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THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 
JA  JQLLA,  CALIFORNIA     . 


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UNIVERSITY  Of  CALIfORfJIA    SAN  DIEGO 


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GENERAL   APPENDIX 


TO   THE 


SMITHSOiNIAN  REPORT  FOR  18T9. 


The  object  of  this  appendix  is  to  illustrate  the  operations  of  the  Institiition,  as  well 
as  to  furnish  information  of  a  character  suited  especially  to  its  catTV'.PiWJndents  and 
collaborators. 

211 


a 


A  STUDY  OF   THE  SAVAGE   WEAPONS   AT  THE  CENTENNIAL 
EXHIBITION,  PHILADELPHIA,  1876  . 


By  Edward  II.  Knight,  A.  M.,  LL.  D. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  objects  illustrated  in  the  following  paper  are  merelj'  those  of  one 
class,  shown  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  in  Philadelphia,  187G. 

The  paper,  therefore,  makes  no  pretense  to  completeness,  as  the  weap- 
ons shown  in  the  various  national  sections  were  in  most  cases  treated 
as  mere  casual  objects  thrown  in  as  curiosities,  and  in  many  cases  so 
little  esteemed  by  the  parties  in  charge  that  they  were  huddled  away 
under  tables ;  surprise  was  sometimes  expressed  that  any  one  should 
pore  over  the  coarse  and  clumsy  when  the  best  talent  of  the  country 
had  exerted  itself  on  the  objects  prominently  displayed  as  worthy  of 
notice. 

More  than  700  sketches  of  the  crude  and  curious  implements  shown 
at  the  exhibition  were  made  by  the  author;  the  following  were  a  por- 
tion, including  weapons  only,  while  a  much  larger,  embracing  tools  of 
industry,  were  the  subject  of  a  series  of  papers  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
May,  1877,  to  April,  1878,  inclusive. 

There  was  no  concurrence  of  design  in  the  exhibition,  so  far  as  con- 
cerns our  present  subject.  In  almost  all  cases  the  objects  were  mere 
casual  additions;  in  a  few  the  scientific  spirit  was  evident,  and  some 
care  had  been  taken  to  illustrate  this  side  of  ethnology. 

To  illustrate :  The  curious  collection  of  musical  instruments  and  weap- 
ons brought  by  Capt.  Long  (Bey)  from  Central  Africa  was  almost  hidden 
in  a  corner,  while  the  tufted  carpets,  embroidered  robes,  and  horse-trap- 
pings were  prominently  shown.  In  the  collection  from  Java  and  the 
other  Dutch  Colonies  in  the  Malay  seas,  much  more  was  shown  of  the 
appliances  of  the  semi-savage  races  of  the  region.  Brazil,  which  had  so 
admirable  a  collection  of  its  agricultural  and  forest  products,  had  scarcely 
anything  which  touches  our  subject,  and  Japan  had  a  great  deal,  though 
much  less  in  the  way  of  its  wcai)ons  than  in  its  industries  and  domestic 
implements. 

The  Centennial  Exhibition  was  mainly  of  the  means  and  results  of 
modern  industry  and  art,  and  the  primitive  objects  were  comparatively 
but  strays  and  occasionals.  It  is,  therefore,  not  the  author's  fault  that 
the  exhibit  of  the  relatively  rude  is  so  incomplete,  as  he  has  rigidly  con- 

213 


214        SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

fined  liis  illustrations  to  objects  actually  oxliibited  there;  and  he  is  not 
responsible  for  the  circumstance  that  the  comparatively  unknown  and 
little  thought  of  Portuguese  colony  of  Angola  had  more  in  his  line  of 
search  than  the  whole  continent  of  South  America. 

It  may  be  mentioned,  however,  that  the  Dutch  and  Portuguese  colo- 
nies had  a  manifold  better  exhibit  in  Paris  in  1878,  and  that  the  former 
had  the  finest  ethnological  display  of  the  mechanical  ingenuity  of  an 
unlettered  people  which  it  has  ever  been  the  good  fortune  of  the  author 
to  see. 

Types  of  Savage  Weapons. — The  simplest  form  of  a  weapon  is  a  stick; 
a  heavy  stick  is  a  club.  The  club  with  a  knob  becomes  a  mace ;  the  swell- 
ing end  sharpened  on  one  edge  is  an  axe.  Point  the  stick  and  it  is  a 
spear;  if  light,  it  is  a  javelin;  shorter  still,  it  is  a  dagger  for  close  quar- 
ters. Flatten  the  stick  and  give  it  an  edge,  it  becomes  a  sword ;  or,  if 
short,  it  is  a  knife. 

So  far  the  weapon  is  a  single  piece  of  wood ;  but  some  ingenious  man 
contrives  to  mount  a  stone  in  a  withe,  or  sling  it  with  a  thong  or  in  the 
skin  of  an  animal's  leg,  or  lash  it  to  a  stick  ;  or  he  learns  how  to  project 
a  light  spear  from  a  bow,  or  a  heavier  one  by  means  of  a  stick  or  a  thong. 
We  find  all  these  modifications  in  the  collections  from  various  countries 
at  the  Centennial. 

Another  type  of  weapon  is  the  stone  or  club  which  is  thrown ;  the 
simplest  method  is,  of  course,  the  mere  hurling  of  stones  by  the  hand. 
Then  there  are  several  forms  of  slings ;  the  one  having  two  thongs  and 
a  pocket,  and  the  other  a  stick  for  hurling  a  perforated  stone.  The  stone 
on  the  end  of  a  string  may  be  considered  a  third  kind,  and  out  of  this 
grows  the  holaf — several  associated  balls  on  as  many  strings — which  has 
a  whirling  motion  when  thrown.  All  of  these  also  were  exhibited.  The 
lasso  of  South  America  naturally  occurs  to  one  in  speaking  of  the  holas, 
though  the  noosed  lasso  belongs  to  another  class  of  devices,  not  exactly 
a  weapon  but  a  snare. 

Materials  employed. — The  statement  of  Lucretius  [Be  rernm  nattirw)  in 
regard  to  the  discovery  of  weapons  relates  rather  to  the  material  than  the 
form.  "  The  first  weapons  of  mankind  were  the  hands,  nails,  and  teeth ; 
also  stones  and  branches  of  trees,  the  fragments  of  the  woods ;  then 
flame  and  fire  were  used,  as  soon  as  they  were  known;  and  lastly  was 
discovered  the  strength  of  iron  and  bronze.  But  the  use  6f  bronze  was 
known  earlier  than  that  of  iron,  inasmuch  as  it  is  more  easy  to  work  and 
its  abundance  is  greater."  Bronze  has  greatly  the  antecedence  of  brass, 
the  former  being  not  less  than  a  score  of  centuries  the  more  ancient. 

Brass  is  an  accidental  alloy,  formed  originally  by  melting  copper  in 
contact  with  calamine  stone  (silicate  of  zinc),  the  practice,  purely  empi- 
ric, producing  what  was  not  known  as  an  alloy,  but  as  a  bright  copper, 
valued  for  its  color  and  other  qualities.  Certain  copper  mines  were 
valued  as  producing  this  gold-colored  copper,  but  it  was  found  out  sub- 
sequently that  by  melting  copper  with  a  certain  mineral  (calamine)  the 
same  effect  was  i^roduced.    Aristotle,  Strabo,  and  Albertus  Magnus  re- 


SAVAGE   WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       215 

fer  to  an  earth  wliich  conferred  a  yello".Y  color  on  copper.  Sulphate  of 
zinc  had  a  place  in  the  pharmacopa'ia  before  its  metalHe  base  was  known. 
Tiie  metal  was  discovered  by  that  brilliant  absurdity,  Paracelsus,  in  the 
sixteentli  century. 

Brouze,  on  the  contrary,  luisalways  been  j-cco^nized  as  an  alloy,  bciu^ir 
made  by  the  fusing^  together  of  copper  and  tin  in  suitable  proportions. 
It  is  found  in  those  countries  whicli  jiosscss  l)oth  of  these  metals,  and 
also  ill  tlios(\ ancient  lands  to  which  llie  IMi<enicians  ])enetrated.  The 
Malay  Islands  and  Cornwall  furnished  the  tin  of  antiquity  and  that  of 
to-day.  Australia  has  also  supplied  it  larj^ely  of  late.  The  l-assitrroft 
(tin)  of  theCh'ceks  j^ave  its  name  to  Cornwall  and  Scully,  thekassiterides 
(►f  Herodotus.^  It  was  the  Jiastera  of  the  Sanscrit,  lasdir  of  the  Arabs. 
The  Javanese  tiiinh,  England  tin,  Swedish  tenn,  and  Icelandic  deii  mark 
the  limits  in  either  direction  of  the  great  traders  of  the  earliest  i)eriod 
of  history.  A  bar  of  tin  has  been  recovered  from  the  Swiss  lacustrine 
piles  of  Estavayer,  molds  for  hatchets  have  been  found  at  Morges,  and 
lemains  of  bronze  foundries  have  been  uncovered  in  the  Canton  of 
Vaud.2 

Some  of  the  ancient  bronzes  of  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  South 
America  have  notable  proportions  or  traces  of  iron  and  of  lead,  and  some 
of  them  have  both  of  these  metals  in  their  conii)osition.  In  the  Eo- 
man  bronze  coins  of  Pompey,  Hadrian,  and  Probus,  zinc,  iron,  lead,  and 
silver  are  found.  One  coin  of  Tacitus  is  of  copper  and  iron.  These  are 
probably  accidental  imi)urities  rather  than  intentional. 

The  lacustrine  researches  in  the  Swiss  lakes  have  given  rise  to  the 
classification  of  copper,  tin,  lead,  and  zinc  as  the  principal  ingredients 
of  bronze,  and  silver,  iron,  antimony,  nickel,  and  cobalt  as  accidental, 
and,  it  may  almost  be  said,  nnsusjiectcd.  The  Helvetian  bronzes  were 
destitute  of  lead,  and  the  presence  of  zinc  appears  accidental.  The  use 
of  calamine  was  common  in  the  Levant,  and  lead  was  added  to  the  brouze 
in  notable  quantities.  In  the  bronze  of  the  Swiss  lakes  the  copper  va- 
ried from  07  to  05  per  cent.,  and  the  tin  from  3  to  20  per  cent  (Desor). 
Sir  John  Lubbock  remarks  that  lead  and  zinc  are  not  founcl  in  the 
bronzes  of  the  true  bronze  age.^ 

The  iron  of  early  ages,  as  well  as  that  made  by  the  native  workmen 
of  Asia  and  Africa  at  the  present  time,  was  obtained  by  a  means  analo- 
gous t-o  that  of  the  Catalan  process.  The  fragments  of  rich  iron  ore  are 
distributed  through  the  mass  of  charcoal  in  the  furnace,  and  by  means 
of  the  bellows  the  fire  is  urged  until  the  metal  runs  into  a  viscid  ball, 
which  is  hammered  to  expel  the  dross,  and  the  steel  obtained  by  the 
single  operation  is  purified  and  shaped  by  successive  heatings  and  ham- 
merings. An  excellent  quality  is  obtained,  and  native  weapons  were 
shown  at  the  Centennial  from  India,  Soudan,  Angola,  Mozambique, 

'Herodotus,  iii,  lli>. 

"Eli.sde  Rcclus,  Suiitlisoiiian  Report,  18G1,  ji.  357. 

3Sir  Jolin  Lubbock's  lutroductiou  to  SvcuNilsou'a  "Stoiio  Age,"  page  xli. 


21 G        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

Zuliilaiid,  tlio  Gold  Coast,  Borneo,  aud  the  Philippiues;  also,  ancient 
broii/cs  from  l\uyi)t. 

Copi)er,  which  may  beheld  to  have  preceded  bronze,  was  shown  in  the 
Indian  relics  from  Wisconsin,  an<l  a  modern  fish-spear  of  an  Alaskan 
tribe,  ('opijcr  im])lements  luive  been  found  in  the  lacustrine  deposits 
at  Peschiera  on  Lake  Garda.* 


1.'  Clubs  and  throwing  weapons. 

li.  Axes. 

3.  Knives  and  swords. 


TYPES  OF  \VEArONS  DESCRIBED. 

4.  Spears. 

5.  Shields. 


6.  Bows  and  arrows. 


I. — Clubs,  and  Throwing  Weapons. 
Leaving  proanibulation,  let  us  begin  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The 
Keerte  of  the  Kafir  is  his  next  best  weapon  after  his  favor- 
ite assegai^  the  native  javelin  ;  he  does  not  use  the  bow  and 
arrow.  The  l-eeric,  called  a  Imoh  l-eerie  by  the  colonists  at 
the  Cape,  is  a  hurling  club,  or  is  used  in  hand  to  hand  en- 
counters, but  princii^ally  the  former.  It  varies  in  length 
from  14  inches  to  3  feet,  but  has  been  seen  as  much  as  six 
feet  long.^  It  is  straight  and  has  a  knob  at  the  end.  It  is 
usuallj"  of  acacia  {Acacia  capensis),  but  sometimes  of  strick 
wood  {Laurus  huUata).  A  more  costly  and  highly  prized 
material  is  rhinoceros  horn,  of  which  tJie  Jieerie  in  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  exhibit  (shown  in  the  illustration)  was  made. 
The  Iceerie  is  habituallj'  carried,  and  is  presented  to  a  friend 
on  meeting  him ;  he  touches  it,  and  this  is  the  etiquette  of 
salutation.  By  a  modification  of  the  weapon,  giving  it  a 
slight  bend,  it  is  used  in  ricochet,  rebounding  from  the 
ground  and  striking  upward. 

The  Jcnob  l-eerie  of  hard  black  wood  is  carried  by  the 
Bushman  also.^  The  pen  has  of  the  Bretons  has  been  com- 
pared to  it." 

Coming  northward  from  Zululaud  we  reach  the  Portuguese  Possessions 
on  the  east  coast  of  Africa,  and  find  Mozambique  weapons ;  these  were 
shown,  together  with  those  from  Angola,  in  the  Agricultural  Build- 
ing at  the  Centennial.  Fig.  2  represents  two  of  them;  one  has  a 
spear-shaped  head,  aud  the  knob  of  the  other  resembles  an  ear  of  corn, 
or  the  raceme  of  a  native  plant  common  in  the  country.  It  suggests  the 
idea  of  maize,  but  is  made  by  longitudinally  grooving,  and  then  notch- 
ing the  protuberant  ridges ;  a  not  unlikely  style  of  ornamentation  for  a 
man  to  hit  upon  when  amusing  himself  by  carWng  his  weapon.     The 

■':M.')rlot,  transl.  in  Smithsonian  Report,  1863,  p.  373. 

^Wood's  "Natural  Historj-  of  Man,"  vol.  i,  p.  108. 

^Baine's  "South  Africa,"  p.  363. 

'See  frontispiece  to  Trollope's  "  Walks  in  Brittany,"  2  vols.,  London,  1840._ 


Flo.  1. — Kafir 
Keerie.  Oape 
of  Good  Hope. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


217 


clubs  of  the  Dinkas  of  the  Upper  Nile"  are  also  of  hard  Mood  made  by 
ridf^iiift'  and  notching'  so  as  to  leave  rows  of  knobs,  like  many  of  the 
l*olynesian  weapons.  The  form  resembles  the  chocolate  mailers  we  used 
to  see,  and  also  suggests  the  lloman  mace  rhiKsuUt. 

The  club  of  the  J)ors  of  the  Tppcr  Xile'  has  been  coiiiitarcd  in  shape 
to  the  mushroom,  having  a  round  disk-f^hapcMl  licnd 
with  a  sharpened  periphery.  It  is  .>()  inches  in  length 
and  made  of  hard  wood.  The  Djibba  clul)  has  also 
a  tlattened  head  with  a  sli.iri»edge,  whicli  i<s  guarded 
by  a  sheath  of  hide  when  not  in  use.  Another  clnb 
in  use  in  the  last-mentioned  tribe  is  champignon-slnipe, 
like  an  unexpauded  mushroom.  The  King  of  I)a- 
liouu^y'"  is  versatile  in  clubs ;  one  favorite  form  has  a 
knobbed  end  and  four  scpiare  knobs  at  the  side;  another 

lias  a  long  sharp  spike  at 
the  end  projecting  at  right 
angles  from  the  handle." 
A  variety  of  sticks  and 
clubs  were  brought  from 
the  different  Australian 
})rovinces.  The  jioculiar 
hurling  weapons,  the  boom- 
erang and  Txangaroo  rat, 
will  be  considered  pres- 
ently. Fig.  3  is  a  Queens- 
land native,  armed  with 
his    icaddu    and     shield.  ^  ''^    „ 

•^  Yu,.\l.—2loznmbtque 

Waddy  is  a  native  name     ciubi<.    Portuguese 

Colonies. 

for  a  simple  club,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  3,  aiul  h  and  d,  Fig.  4.  The  knobbed 
(,'lub  isknown  i\sthv nulIa-UKUa, ninl  isshown 
in  Fig. ."),  and  at  c.  Fig.  4.  AVhen  the  head 
is  tlat  and  shar])ened  to  an  edge,  the  colo- 
niststerm  them  toiiKihaiclSjtnnn  theirresem- 
blance  to  the  North  American  Indian  Avea- 
l)on.  Fig.  4  shows  two  wooden  tomahawks 
{<(  c)  of  New  South  AVales,'^  a  nuU(t-)iHlla  (c), 
and  two  waddies  {h  d).  The  typical  Aus- 
tralian waddy is2  feet  8  inches  long,  weighs 
2  pounds,  and  is  made  of  the  heavy  and  tough  mountain  tea-tree, 
box,  orred  gum  wood.  It  has  a  pointed  end  so  that  its  thrustis  dangerous." 

"■Wood's  "Xutunil  History  of  Miin,"  vol.  i,  p.  524. 
9  Wood's  "Xatiiral  History  of  Man."'  i,  p.  494. 
'"  Duncan's  "  Wosfern  Africa,"  j).  '2'26. 

"The  knob  sticks  of  the  Wanyanuiczi  are  shown  in  Stauh'y's  "Livingstone,"  plate 
opposite  page  i')44. 

'-  See  the  li-hil,  \l.  I!roiifj;li  Smith's  •' Ahorif^ines  of  Victoria,"'  Fig.  D7. 
'^  Wood's  "Natural  History  of  Man,"  vol.  ii,  p.  "i'J. 


I'lG.    3. — Xatire   Auntralian    irith 
and  shield,  Queensland. 


club 


218        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


Some  of  tlieni  have  four  grooves  extending  from  the  point  to  the  hand 
grasp,  so  that  the  wound  is  something  like  that  made  by  a  bayonet. 
Fig.  5  shows  two  nulla-nuUm  or  liunting  chibs  from  the  soutlieru  part 
of  tlie  ishind,  the  colony  of  Victoria.     They  are  two  feet  long.'^ 

The  nulla-nulla  of  the  Lower  Murray  Kiver  is  the  icarra-ioarra  of  the 
Yarra,  and  is  made  of  a  sapling  of  the  mountain  tea- tree,  the  enlarge- 
ment at  the  root  forming  the  knob.  A  pointed  mdJa  is  made  by  fashion- 
ing one  of  the  projecting  roots  into  a  pointed  spike,  and  is  called  laiujedP 
SIiar])-edged  wooden  maces, which  maybe  termed  a 

wooden  swords,  are  also  made  by  the  Australian     f^  '^ 

natives,  some  weighing  as  high  as  41  ounces."^ 


riG.  4. — Australian  wooden  weapons, 
Xetv  South  Wales. 


Fig.  '). — Australian  nulla- 
nullas,  Victoria. 


Crossing  to  Xew  Zealand,  we  find  the  Maories  to  have  a  much  greater 
variety  of  material  and  of  shape.  The  most  prized  material  is  the  green 
jade,  and  it  is  also  wrought  Avith  the  greatest  difiiculty.  The  bone  oi 
whale  bears  a  medium  character  in  both  respects.     Fig.  G  shows  two 

1"  K.  B.  Smith's  "Aborigines  of  Victoria,"  vol.  i,  299-300,  Figs.  56-59. 

^5  IMd.,  Fig.  G-2. 

' '  Ihid.,  Figs.  GO,  66,  67 ;  see  also  Figs.  61,  65. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXITIIUTION. 


219 


ibrins  of  Maori  wooden  dubs,  known  as  imtu;  one  lias  a  sharp  ('(l;;e  to 
the  axc-like  head,  and  a  bunch  of  feathers  intended  to  shake  in  the  face 
of  an  enemy  and  disturb  his  aim.    The  wea])on  to  the  ri<;ht  is  i)addle- 

sha]»ed,aiid  lias  twoedjies  ;  a  not 
uncoiiiiiion  Ibnii  hi  r<)I,viiesia. 

The  modi  or  pdlii/xilK  of  Xew 
Zealand  is  a  two cd^cd  club  of  a 
jirolon^ed  ovoidal  sha[»e.  Jt  usu- 
ally has  a  hole  in  the  neck  for  a 
wrist-(;ord.  ¥i<^.  7  is  of  fjreen 
jade,  very  symmetrical, and  beau- 


Fig.  6. —  Wondcu  clubs,  Xcw  Zealand. 


Flo.  1.  — Stone  merai, 
New  Zealand. 


Fir,.   8. — Green-ftone 
merai,  New  Zealand. 


tifully  polished  with  a  species  of  cornndum  found  in  the  island.  Fig-.  S 
is  of  stone,  and  is  also  carefully  made  and  polished.  Such  weajions  be- 
come heir-looms  in  families,  and  jiossess  names,  much  as  in  former  times 
titles  were  given  to  swords,  as,  for  instance,  Samsaniah,  the  cimeter  of 
llaroun  al  Easchid,  and  E.rcaJihdr,  the  sword  of  Kiiii;-  Arthur.  The  stone 
merai,  V\<^.  8,  Avas  called  Kororalxi.  Fig.  9  is  a  stone  weapon  called  Pdtu 
KoJiatii ;  its  wrist-thong  occupies  a  circular  depression.  Fig.  10  is  a 
carved  weai)on,  the  name  of  which  was  Judkanohi,  or  ''face-eater.'"  It 
is  made  from  a  bone  of  a  spermaceti  whale,  and  has  the  reputation  of 
having  been  handed  down  in  the  family  for  twelve  generations.  Mernis 
of  this  shai)e  are  also  made  of  wood,  but  are  not  as  much  valued  as 
those  of  harder  and  more  enduring  materials. 
It  hail  been  supposed  that  the  "  flattened  soda-water-bottle  shape," 


220        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


as  Tylor  has  called  it,  was  peculiar  to  this  ingenious  cannibal  race,  the 
antipodes  of  the  British,  but  it  appears  that  the  Peruvians  make  a 
weapon  of  exactly  similar  shape ;  one  has  been  found  of  dark  brown 
jasper,  '^  and  another  of  a  greenish  ami)liibolic  stone.  "* 
Another  of  native  copper  has  been  found  in  Michigan,  and 
was  shown  at  the  Centennial.  It  is  IC.j  inches  long,  2f  inches 
wide  for  11  inches  of  its  length,  contracts 
to  li  inch,  and  then  enlarges  to  2  inches, 
to  assist  the  hand -grasp.  No  deduction 
oi"  im])ortance  is  to  be  made  from  this;  the 
blade  is  but  1^  inch  wider  than  the  han- 
dle, and  the  probability  is  that  the  piece 
of  native  copper  approximated  that  shape, 
the  work  of  the  owner  consisting  in  flat- 
tening, sharpening,  and  shaping  it  sym- 
metrically. 

Crossing  the  Southern  Ocean  we  reach 
the  Fiji  Islands,  lately  come  into  the  pos- 
session of  Great  Britain.  The  Fijian  is  a 
Papuan  race,  and  remarkable  for  con- 
^rktuKohati!'  structive  ability.  The  club  is  his  great 
New  Zealand,  -^eapou,  aud  ujiou  it  lic  cxi^euds  his  lavish 
carving,  the  implements  being  of  various  sizes  and 
patterns,  tlio  handiwork  being  all  guided  by  individ- 
ual taste.^"    The  display  at  the  Centennial  was  not 

,  ,■,.■,-,  ,     1      •  -n  n    FiG-  10. — Kaknti    Weapon 

large,  the  islands  not  being  specially  represented.  {honeofwhaie),NnvZea- 
The  classification  of  their  clubs  into  large,  small, 
knobbed,  bladed,  axe-shaped,  straight,  or  curved  gives  but  a  faint  idea 
of  the  variety.  The  dromo  is  a  spiked  mace,  and  resembles  some  of  the 
North  American  Indian  clubs.  The  dm  is  like  the  double  Phrygian 
axe.  The  totoJcea  is  a  spiked  hammer.^"  The  stem  of  a  small  tree,  with 
a  swelling  bole,  and  the  radiating  roots  trimmed  as  projecting  knobs,  is 
a  common  style.  Another  form  is  made  by  bending  over  a  young  sap- 
ling nearly  to  the  ground,  so  as  to  bring  the  ta^i-root  at  right  angles  to 
the  stem.  When  the  tree  has  sufficiently  grown,  it  is  cut  and  shaped, 
and  the  tap-root  forms  a  laterally-projecting  knob  with  a  circle  of  spikes 
formed  of  the  other  roots,  shortened  and  sharpened.  Other  clubs  are 
like  maces;  squared  and  notched;  with  pyramidal  or  mushroom  tops; 
ornamented  with  braided  coir^  with  wicker-work,  with  feathers  worked 
in  with  simietj  inlaid  with  shell,  bone,  hog's  tusks,  human  or  whale's 
teeth.^' 

We  miss  clubs  when  we  come  to  lands  where  the  more  deadly  metal  is 


"  Klemm,  C.  N.,  part  ii,  page  26. 
'**Rivero  &  TschudiJ  Plates,  pi.  xxxiii. 
19 Smythc's  "Ten Moutlis iu Fiji," p.  120. 


20 Williams,  "Fiji,"  pp.  43-4;  589. 
2' Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  275. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXIIiniTION,       221 


abundant.    Java  has,  howovor,  two  clubs  deemed  worthy  of  special 

names,  Indan  and  (j(uJaP    The 

"war-fan"   of  the  Japanese  is 

]KMliiips  uni(|iie,  bein<4-  of  lar<^0 

.size  and  ha\iiij;'  a  sliealli  of  iron 

so  that  it  may  do  duty  as  a  chib  (| 

on  emer,ueiM'y. 

Cominj^-  to  America  we  find 

a  greater  variety,   if  possible, 

than    Fiji  furnishes,  for  those 

astute    islanders    have    but   a 

meager  choice    of  materials — 

wood  and  shell.     Fig.  11  is  an 

OJibeway  war-club  from  Saga- 

mook,   on   the  north    shore  of 

Lake   Huron.     Fig.   V2   shows 

two  wooden  clubs,  one  armed 
Fio.  w.—Ojiheway  with  au  irou   spikc ;  they    are 

wooden  club,  Can-     ,  .  ' 

ada.  u'om  tho   Missouri    valley  In- 

dians.    Spiked  weapons   have  always  been 
in   vogue,  and  a  curious  example  of  one  is  a 

stag's-horn  club  with  the  brow        ,„    „-  ^     ;7„,/n„w„R 

•^  Fig.  12. — Wooden  cluhii  of  Vakotan. — 

antler  left  as  a  spike,  found  in  yatumai  2[„>,cnm. 

one  of  the  Swiss  Lakes.  See  memoir  by  M.  E.  Desor." 
Stag's-horu  hammers  are  also  very  numerous  in  the  debris 
of  the  lake  dwellings.  A  hammer  of  serpentine  with  in- 
serted helve  and  with  a  hanunering  face  and  pointed 
peen  is  mentioned  by  Nilson.'^^  ]\rany  other  forms  are 
found  among  the  Indian  tribes,  but  the  aim  has  been  to 
place  together  the  wooden  clubs  made  in  a  single  piece. 
Those  in  which  stones  or  metal  are  mounted  will  be  shown 
presently.  Fig.  13  is  a  pestle  shaped  war- 
club  of  the  Pai-Utes  and  Mohaves.  They 
are  termed  "face  mashers,"  since  they  are 
carried  concealed  about  the  person  and 
used  for  striking  an  enemy  in  the  face. 

Figs.  14  and  15 are  from  the Facitic Coast. 
They  are  elaborately  carved  war-clubs  of 
hard  wood  from  the  Ilaidah  Indians  of 
Ik'lla-bella,  Lritish  Colinnbia.  They  arc 
what  we  should  call  "  grotes(iuely  carved," 
but  the  emblems  on  them  are  mythological, 
Fio.  u.-Haidah  ;^,j(|  ^]^^^  i,|pa  of  plcasautry  does  not,  we  are 

war -club . — ?\a-  *^  "^  -pj^,     j^  Pai    Ute 

tionaiMv^etim.     informed, cutcr  into  1  lic  work.    The  canoes,    ciub.-Xatwnal  Mu- 
totem-posts,  i)addles,  bowls,  and  other  ob-    **"'"• 


«*Sir  Stamford  Raffles'  "Java,"  4to  cd.,  i,  296  (Figs.  8,  9). 
"Translatiou  in  Smitlisouiau  Report,  1865,  page  357. 


2^Ibi(l.,  page  359. 


222        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


jects  fiisliioiied  iu  wood,  exhibit  the  same  style  of  ornamentation,  as 

it  must  be  called. 

The  Arj^eutine  Republic  sent  a  mace,  which  is  shown  at  Fig.  16.  It  is 
of  hard  wood  resembling  Ihpnm  rita\  and  is 
48  inches  long.  It  belonged  to  an  Indian  of 
the  pampas.  A  spear  eight  feet  long,  of  the 
same  kind  of  wood  and  tapering  to  a  i)oint, 
was  exliibited  with  it.  The  club  of  the  Gran 
Chaco  Indians^"'  of  the  La  Plata  region  is 
square  in  section,  larger  towards  each  end, 
and  is  grasped  in  the  middle.  It  is  called  a 
macana,  and  is  used  either  as  a  hurling 
weapon  or  as  a  club  at  close  quarters.  The 
clubs  of  the  Guiana  Indians  are  maces  of 
square  section,  or  paddle-shaped  with  some- 
what sharp  edges.  The  handles  are  em- 
broidered with  cotton  string,  some  in  a  very 
ornamental  manner.  The  Uaupe  Indians  of 
the  Amazon-*^  also  use  carv^ed  wooden  clubs. 
We  come  now  to  a  class  of  clubs  in  which 
a  stone  is  mounted  upon  a  withe  or  other 
kind  of  handle  to  form  a  maul  or  hammer. 
AVe  do  not  in  the  present  article  consider 
those  which  have  sharp  edges,  and  are  de- 
signed to  form  axes  and  adzes.  They  will  -^ja. 
carved  war-chib.-  \yQ  oToupcd  Separately.    Fig.  17  is  about  as 

National  Mu-  ^         '-  ^  ^  ^ 

«cMm.  primitive  an  affair  as  can  well  be  devised. 

It  is  a  sheU-headed  club  from  a  shell-heap  on  Saint  John's  River,  Florida. 

The  head  is  a  Pyrula, 
and  the  specimen  is 
peculiar  in  this,  that 
though  ancient  it  still 
has  the  remains  of  the 
original  handle. 

In  connection  with 
this  method  of  mount- 
ing, by  a  perforated 
head  through  which 
the  helve  is  thrust, 
mention  may  be  made 
of  hammer  stones, 
sometimes  known  as 
helved  wedges,  simi- 
larly   handled,     and 

riG.17. — Shell-hcadedclub/romaFloHdashell-heap. — National  Museum.    -^JjjqI^  haVC  bcCU  hurl- 
ing axes.     They  are  more  frequent  in  Europe  than  in  America.     Some 


riG 


-Ilaidah 


16.— Mace 
from  Paraguay, 
Argentine  Con- 
federation. 


25  Wood,  vol.  ii,  pp.  569,  570. 


"6  Wallace's  ' 'Amazon,"  504. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT   THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIHITION.       223 


of  these  liiive  their  edges  in  line  witli  tlie  handle  and  some  across  it, 
as  axes  and  adzes  respectively.  See  Sven  Nilson's  ••'  Stone  Age,"-'  edited 
by  Sir  John  Lnbbock.  A  re- 
'larkabU^  i'our-]>roiig('d  stone 
battle-axe  is  shown  in  the  mu- 
seum of  Luild,  Sweden,  hav- 
ing a  diameter  of  8  inclies, 
and  i)erloiated  for  a  handle.-' 
Fig.  18  is  a  stone  man 
lashed  with  raw-hide  tliongs 
to  a  T-shai)e<l  handle  which 
has  been  formed  from  a  forked 
branch.  It  is  from  the  Ilaidah  Indians,  Bella- 
bella,  ]>ritis]i  Columbia.  Fig.  1!>  is  a  large 
stone  maul  lashed  to  a  short  handle  formed 
of  a  forked  limb.  It  is  from  Sitka,  Alaska. 
Fig.  20  is  irom  New  Zealand.  It  shows  that 
a  similar  mode  of  mounting  is  practiced  by 
the  Maories,  the  bowlder  being  secured  in 

the  crotch  by  means  of  thongs.     Tlie  pursuit  f,c..  lo.stone  maui «/  Alaska 
of  similar  examples  leads  us  a  devious  dance.  '"'""'  MuBeum. 

We  find  that  the  (Iran  Chaco  Indians,  of  South  America,  have  a  peculiar 
method  of  embedding  a  cylindrical  stone  in  a  club  so  that  it  may  project 


Fig.  Vd.— Stone  maul,  from  BritUh  Columbia. — Natwnal  Mu- 

scu  in . 


■^'-■'S 


Fig.  20. — 'Maori  t,(oiie  club,  Kew  Zealand. 

like  an  axe  blade.  A  hole  is  bored  into  a  sapling  of  suitable  size  and  the 
stone  driven  in.  As  the  tree  grows,  the  wood  advances  upon  the  stone 
and  grips  it  firmly.     The  sapling  is  then  cut  and  shaped. 


Fig.  21. — Sti)7ie  maul  of  Arickarces. 


Fig.  21  is  a  stone  maul  of  the  Arickaree  Indians  of  the  Upper  Missouri 
River.29    It  is  a  reddish,  granite  pebble  of  three  and  a  half  pounds 

«  Pago  7-2,  .111(1  plato  ix,  Figs.  183,184;  pp.  73,74;  and  plate  viii.  Figs.  180,181. 

'"  Ibid.,  page  7;'),  and  ]>!.  ix,  Fig.  159. 

•9  Sec  "  Tweuty-first  lleport  of  X.  Y.  State  Cabinet,"  pp.  31-:{G,  pis.  i,  ii,  iii.   ' 


224        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


weight.  The  witlic  is  bent  around  it,  occni)ying  a  circumferential  cle- 
l)re.ssion,  which  is  interrupted  opposite  the  liandle.  The  same  kind  of 
hammer  was  used  by  the  native  workmen  formerly  in  the  Lake  Supe- 


:^ii..iiiittMafavfiTMTrKriiililliii^HlJjja> 


Fig.  22.— Stone  mauls  of  Missouri  Yalley  Indians. — Xational  Museum. 

rior  copper  mines.    It  is  used  by  the  Missouri  Indians  in  driving  stakes 

and  tent-pegs. 
Fig.  22  shows  two  stone  implements  of  the  Sioux,  the  hereditary 
enemies  of  the  tribe  last  mentioned.  The 
u])per  one  is  a  rude  grooved  axe  mounted 
in  a  hickory  sapling,  the  two  ends  of  which 
are  brought  together  with  raw-hide  thongs 
to  form  the  handle.  The  lower  figure  is 
a  war-club  with  an  egg-shaped  limestone 
head  and  a  handle  of  ash ;  the  end  of  tire 
latter  is  ornamented  with  the  tuft  from 
the  tail  of  a  buffalo.  Between  the  two 
figures  is  a  representation  of  the  Eoman 
sacrificial  malleus,  which,  even  in  the  time 
of  the  emperors,  was  employed  in  slaugh- 
tering the  victims.  It  seems  to  have  come 
down  from  times  then  ancient,  the  order 
of  procedure  admitting  of  no  innovation, 
just  as  the  knives  of  flint  were  used  in 
ancient  Egypt  and  among  the  Hebrews 
in  performing  ceremonial  observances  and 
sacrifices.  Dr.  Schliemann  found  hun- 
dreds of  rude  stone  hammers  in  the  hill 
of  Ilissarlik. 

Another  mode  of  mounting  a  large  peb- 
ble or  wedge-shaped  stone  is  by  means 

of  a  raw-hide  covering  to  the  stone  and  withe. 
Fig.  23  shows  an  Arickaree  weapon  made  in  this  manner  :  The  granite 

pebble  weighing  22  ounces  is  grooved  circumferentially  and  a  withe 


Fir. 


Fig.  23.-4  r  icka  r  e e 
stone  maul. 


2i.— War-dub 
of  Apaches.  Ari- 
zon  a. — Xational 
Museum. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXIIiniTION.        225 

tant  around  it  and  secured  by  raw  iiidc*tli(ni<i.s  next  to  the  stone.  Over 
the  whole  of  the  stone  and  handle,  exeei)t  tlu^  liauiiiu'r  face,  a  sin<;le 
piece  of  wet  buft'alo  hide  is  stretched  and  sewed  with  sinew.  When  the 
hide  shriidvs  in  dryinj;-  the  whole  forms  a  very  linn  Job.  The  use  of  a 
similar  tool  in  driving'  stakes  and  tent-juns  has  been  mentioned,  but 
there  are  many  other  purposes  about  an  Indian  camp,  such  as  breaking 
bones  and  pounding  peinmiean,  for  which  it  is  well  adapted,  not  to 
mention  tlic  warlike  uses. 

The  po(/(/amof/<jon  of  the  Shoshones  is  a  slnngshot. 

Fig.  -1  shows  yet  another  mode  of  mounting  the  stone.  The  pebble 
and  the  withe  are  covered  with  the  tail  skin  of  abullalo,  the  tuft  of  hair 
remaining.  It  resend)les  the  slungshot  used  nearer  home,  or  the  stone  in 
a  stocking  foot,  said  to  be  a  favorite  with  the  gentler  sex  in  some  places. 

Ilammer-axes  of  stone  and  horn,  bored  for  the  helve,  are  to  be  found 
in  many  museums.     See  Nilson.^" 

AVe  will  now  examine  the  throwing  weapons;  premising  that  neither 
law  nor  custom  prevents  the  hurling  of  some  already  described.  The 
Fijian  among  the  abundance  of  his  elubs  has  one  specially  for  throwing; 
it  is  knobbed  at  the  end  like  the  Kalir  Ixcerie  and  is  worn  in  the  girdle, 
sometimes  in  pairs  like  pistols.    Fig.  25  is  the  throwing-stick  of  Uganda 


Fio.  25. — Throiving-stick  of  JJijanda,  Africa. — Egyptian  Exhibit. 

brought  by  Oapt.  Long  (Bey)  from  his  expedition  south  of  Khartoom. 
It  is  three  feet  long,  has  a  spear-shaped  head,  and  is  hurled  with  a 
whirling  motion  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  the  Australian  boomerang, 
but  without  the  peculiar  erratic  flight  of  the  latter. 

The  curved  throwing-stick  was  also  noticed  %  Sir  Sanniel  Baker  in 
Abyssinia,  and  is  common  among  the  negroes  as  far  west  as  Lake  Tsad. 
The  Es-sellem  of  the  desert^^  is  like  the  curved  sticks  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians^^  and  closely  resembles  the  middle  stick  in  Fig.  28. 

The  trumhash  or  throwing-stick  of  the  Niani-niams  of  the  Upper  Nile^^ 
is  a  flat  projectile  used  for  killing  birds  or  hares,  and  is  carried  inside 
the  shield.  The  war  weapon  when  made  of  iron  is  called  luJhrda,  and 
has  three  ju'ojecting  limbs  with  pointed  prongs  and  sharp  edges,  the 
longer  blade  at  right  angles  to  the  grip,  which  is  guarded  by  the  short- 
est prong  of  the.  three.    This  wicked  weapon  is  spun  about  its  axis  and 


so  "  stone  Aro  "  PI.  viii,  Fi.us.  lfiR-179. 

*' Smith's  "  Al»ori<>inos  of  Victoria,"  Discnssion  on,  pj).  321  et  aeq.,  vol.  i. 

'-Il)iil  {noio  pa  nut  in),  i,  2\)d.  \ 

^  Scliweiufnrtb. 

S.  Mis.  54 15 


226        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

has  a  movement  of  translation  in  a  horizontal  plane.  It  is  also  a  hack- 
ings hand-to-hand  weapon.  Somewhat  similar  weapons  with  two  blades 
are  found  in  ni)per  Sennaar  and  Central  Soudan,  and  are  used  by  the 
Fans.  The  Icecrie  or  knobbed  throwing-stick  of  the  Kafirs  has  been 
already  described.     The  lismn  is  the  curved  throwiug-stick  of  another 


Fig.  26. — Niatn-niam  hurling-weapons  (t'^umbash). 

African  tribe  ;  the  iron  hungamunga^*  of  the  Tibbus  and  of  Darfur  is  also 
a  hurling  weapon.  ^^ 

It  would  be  singular,  indeed,  if  a  cudgel  for  throwing  at  game  were 
found  in  but  one  part  of  the  world,  and  at  but  one  period;  but  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Australian  hoo^nerang,  the  most  curious  of  its  class,  has 
directed  attention  to  ^yhat  might  otherwise  have  been  passed  over  as 
unimportant.  The  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments  have  been  con- 
sulted, and  in  each  case  the  curved  stick  has  been  noticed  in  the  hands 
of  bird-catchers  or  hunters.  An  ancient  thro  wing-stick  about  eighteen 
inches  long  is  in  the  Abbott  Egyptian  collection  of  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society.  A  short,  crooked  stick  {pedum)  was  used  by  the  Eomans 
to  throw  at  hares,  and  centaurs  are  represented  with  a  short  pedum 
{/.aycuiSo /.()>)  in  the  other. 

In  coming  to  Australia  we  reach  a  peoj^le  living  in  an  almost  primi- 
tive condition,  so  low,  ill-formed,  and  ignorant  that  their  name  has  be- 
come a  synonym  for  imbecility.  Here,  however,  the  throwing-stick  has 
attained  its  highest  development.     The  maximum  of  improvement  has 

'*•  Illustrated  in  the  discussion  on  the  boomerang.  Smith,  "  Abor.  Victoria,"  321  et 
seq. 

3fl  Tylei-'s  "  Early  History  of  Mankind,"  175-6.  See  also  paper  by  Fergnson  in  Trans. 
R.  I.  A.  Dublin,  1843,  vol.  xix.  Paper  by  W.  Cooke  Taylor.  The  Nat.  Hist.  Soc. 
London,  1840,  vol.  i,  page  205;  Eyre,  vol.  ii,  p.  303;  Klemm,  C.  G.  vol.  i,  p.  316,  plate  vii. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        227 

not,  liowever,  been  reached  by  the  natives  of  all  parts  of  this  island, 
which  is  almost  as  largo  as  the  United  States  and  Territories.  The 
hoo7ncran(/ {Fig.  27),  used  with  such  singular  dexterity  by  the  "black 


Fig.  21.— Boomerangs  of  New  South  Wales. 

fellows"  of  Xew  South  Wales,  is  almost  unknown  to  those  of  the  colony 
of  South  Australia,  which,  by  the  bye,  is  not  the  most  southerly  portion 
of  the  island,  that  position  being  occupied  by  the  thriving  colony  of 
Victoria.  The  boomerang  is,  however,  used  in  Western  Australia,  where 
it  is  called  a  Jiy-lie.  This  is  a  true  return-boomerang.'"  Even  in  the 
districts  where  the  boomerang  is  used  there  are  all  grades  of  throwing- 
sticks,  three  of  which  of  dift'erent  forms  were  in  the  Xew  South  AVales 
exhibit,  and  are  shown  in  Fig.  28.  The  upper  one  is  carved  with  raised 
serpentine  figures,  the  stick  being  painted  red  in  the  intervals.  With 
these  weapons  the  natives  give  a  direct  blow,  a  whirling  blow,  or  a 
ricochet  upward-rebounding  blow. 
The  boomerang  is  made  of  the  wood  of  the  blue  gum  [Eucalyptus  glob- 


Fio.  28. — AvstraUan  thrniping-sticks,  Tictoria. 

■ulufi),  or  sometimes  from  the  iron-bark  of  the  she-oak,  and  is  of  flatted 
curved  shape,  convex  on  the  upper  surface  and  flat  below,  always 
thickest  in  the  middle,  from  which  it  is  scraped  away  towards  both 
edges,  which  are  tolerably  shar}),  especially  the  outer  one.  Boomerangs 
vary  much  in  shape,  but  do  not  depart  from  the  characteristics  men- 
tioned. They  differ  in  their  curves,  lengths,  widths,  taper,  and  weight. 
*' Aborigines  of  Victoria,  vol.  i,  33G,  Fig.  140. 


228        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

A  good  specimen  may  be  33  inches  from  tip  to  tip  measured  alonj?  the 
carve,  2  inches  wide,  and  weigh  12  ounces.  There  are  several  ways  of 
throwing  the  boomerang  so  as  to  make  it  execute  its  peculiar'  evolutions. 
In  throwing  it,  the  native  grasps  it  by  the  handle  end,  which  has  some 
notches  upon  it,  and  holds  the  flat  side  downward;  then  balancing  it  a 
moment  in  his  hand,  and  making  a  few  quick  steps  forward,  he  launches 
it  with  a  sharp  Hiug,  bringing  his  hand  back  so  as  to  make  it  revolve  in 
the  plane  of  its  curve  with  groat  rapidity.  Tlie  ])eculiarity  of  the  boom- 
erang is  in  what  may  be  considered  its  erratic  flight.  Thrown  so  as  to 
strike  the  ground  40  yards  in  advance  of  the  thrower,  it  rebounds,  de- 
scribes a  high  circular  backward  course,  and  falls  behind  the  thrower. 
Thrown  high  in  the  air  it  mounts  to  a  great  height,  circles  backward 
nntil  its  force  is  expended,  and  then  drops  dead  at  a  point  behind  the 
thrower.  It  is  also  thrown,  so  as  at  a  given  distance  to  make  its  rebound 
in  other  than  an  upward  circular  dirertion,  and  curve  its  flight  around 
an  object  so  as  to  strike  something  behind  the  latter.  This  is  merely 
an  eflbrt  of  skill.  The  boomerang  is  thrown  against  the  wind;  and, 
though  it  is  easy  enough  to  hurl  it,  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  it  per- 
form at  command  all  the  peculiar  evolutions  which  distinguish  it.  It 
is  roughly  made,  so  far  as  mere  finish  is  concerned;  but  the  work  upon 
it  in  adjusting  the  curves  is  most  scrupulously  and  patiently  performed 
by  the  natives,  some  of  whom  never  acquire  proficiency,  while  others 
become  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  the  manufacture  of  the  weapon. 
Lili;e  all  instruments  which  have  attained  something  like  perfection,  the 
difference  between  the  best  and  i)oorest  is  greater  than  in  the  case  of 
some  other  tools  where  a  more  general  level  of  excellence  is  preserved. 

The  subject  of  the  boomerang  lias  been  learnedly  and  carefully  consid- 
ered in  R.  Brough  Smith's  "Aborigines  of  Victoria."  ^^  The  discussion 
has  elicited  the  fact  that  some  throwing-sticks  move  with  a  spinning  or 
whirling  motion,  and  even  pursue  a  curved  jiath,  as  a  billiard  or  base- 
ball player  can  curve  the  trajectory  by  imparting  rotation  to  the  ball. 
Kone  of  the  implements,  however,  described  by  Col.  Lane  Fox  (British 
Association,  1872),  or  referred  to  in  Mr.  Ferguson's  learned  i7a]:)er  before 
the  Royal  Irish  Academy  in  1838,  are  fairly  comparable  to  the  Austra- 
lian weapon.  It  must  also  be  remarked  that  the  distinction  between 
the  play  weapon  and  the  war  weapon  is  clearly  drawn  in  the  mind  of 
the  native,  though  the  back-return  boomerang  cannot  always  be  distin- 
guished from  the  war  boomerang  by  a  novice.  The  barnyeet  of  the 
Yarra,^^  for  instance,  is  a  war  weapon,  and  not  a  come-back;  nor  is  it  so 
much  curved  as  the  regular  boomerang,  iconguim?^  A  group  of  the  vari- 
ous kinds  is  shown  in  Mr.  Smith's  work,  previously  referred  to.""* 

From  the  straight  round  stick,  knobbed  stick,  flat  stick,  curved  stick, 
edged  curved  stick  (a  wooden  sword),  through  every  degree  of  curva- 
ture up  to  the  perfect  boomerang,  the  series  of  Australian  hurling 
weapons  occupies  the  whole  ground.    The  most  curiously-curved  weapon, 

3' Vol.  i,  p.  321,  ct  scq.      ^Ihid.,  Fig.  96.      '^'^  Ibid.,  Fig.  95.      ^^lUd.,  i,  315,  Fig.  99. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.      229 

which  shouhl  not  bo  omitted,  is  the  quh-rUnuj-an-wKn,  iiiii)Ossible  to 
explain  witliout  an  illustration,  and  not  shown  in  Pliila(lcli)hia.  It  is  a 
thin  flake  of  wood,  curiously  twisted  and  curved.^' 

Fi^.  29  shows,  for  purposes  of  comparison,  an  Australian  hoomernng  {a) 
from  Murray  I'ivcr,  and  a  curvod  tlirowin.n'-stick  (/>)  used  by  tlie  Moqui 
and  Sliimmo  Indians  in  killing;-  rabbits.     These  throwin^^-sticks,  though 


Fio.  29. — Boomerang  and  Mrifjvi  throunng-stiek. 

curved  so  as  to  resemble  in  one  important  res])ect  the  Australian  weapon, 
cannot,  like  it,  be  made  to  describe  the  peculiar  divergent  ciuvcd  course 
through  the  air.    These  sticks  were  formerly  used  bj'  many  of  the 
Southern  California  tribes. 
The  langaroo  rat  {weet-iceet),^^  Fig.  30,  of  the  Australians  has  been 


Tic.  30. — Kangarnn  rat.  South  Atistralia. 

sometimes  spoken  of  as  rather  a  toy  than  a  weapon,  but  it  is  a  danger- 
ous missile.  Its  head  is  usually  a  ])iece  of  hard  wood,  of  a  conoidal  or 
double  conical  shape,  and  its  tail  is  a  flexible  handle  a  yard  long.  By 
this  handle  it  is  thrown ;  the  native  takes  the  rat  by  the  tail  and  swings 
it. back  and  forth  several  times,  bending  it  almost  double.  Suddenly 
letting  it  fly  by  an  underhand  jerk,  it  glides  hissing  through  the  air, 
striking  and  rebounding  like  a  fiat  stone  skimming  the  surface  of  the 
water — the  familiar  "ducks  and  drakes''  of  our  childhood.  Tt  does  not 
rise  more  than  nine  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  the  dis- 
tance it  reaches  depends  upon  the  force  of  the  projection  ajul  also  ui)on 
the  angleatwhichit  first  strikes  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Tf  the  trajectory 
be  too  high,  it  makes  a  number  of  high  leaps  and  soon  tires  ;  if  too  low, 
the  force  is  soon  expended  in  friction  on  the  ground.  The  body  with  a 
trailing  tail  making  fl^'ing  leaps  has  much  the  appearance  of  a  small 

^'  n>id.,\,  :ur),  Fi<;.315. 
■•nVood,  ii,  i>.  41. 


230        SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

kaiiiiiiroo,  niid  is  well  iiainod  the  T^anrjnroo  rat.  The  exampleillustrated 
is  of  wild  butlalo  horn,  heated  and  pressed  to  shape. 

The  kangaroo  rat  described  by  E.  Brough  Smith  is  about  2(3  inches 
long,  the  tail  being  21  inches  and  the  head  4.5  inches.*' 

Something  like  the  kangaroo  rat  of  the  Australians  is  a  missile 
employed  in  a  game  of  the  Fijians.**  A  reed  four  feet  in  length  termi- 
nates in  an  ovoid  piece  of  hard  and  heavy  wood  six  inches  long.  It 
is  held  between  the  thumb  and  finger  and  thrown  by  an  underhand 
jerk,  so  as  to  skim  horizontally  over  the  ground.  A  long  smooth  stretch 
of  turf  is  Icept  in  good  order  in  the  villages  for  this  purpose.  This 
suggests  the  pitching  of  quoits  and  horseshoes,  curling  stones,  hockey, 
polo,  and  other  ball  games,  which  we  merely  suggest  as  we  pass,  sup- 
posing them  not  to  be  distinctly  savage,  though  some  of  them  are  ath- 
letic survivals  of  ancient  barbaric  exercises. 

The  dialer a^^  or  "  quoit  weapon"  of  the  Sikhs  is  savage  enough  to  be 
worth  a  mention.  It  is  an  annular  disk  of  thin  steel  with  a  sharp  edge 
all  round.  It  is  whirled  upon  the  fore-finger  and  then  thrown,  spinning 
as  it  flies,  and  is  a  formidable  weapon  when  aimed  at  the  face  of  an 
enemy,  several  being  hurled  in  rapid  succession  and  with  great  force. 
•  They  can  also  give  it  a  ricochet  flight. 

A  similar  weapon  has  been  brought  from  Guatemala  by  M.  Boursier, 
the  French  Consul.  It  is  disk-shaped,  very  sharp  on  the  edges,  and 
about  G  inches  in  diameter.  Hurliug-disks  have  been  found  also  in 
Brittany  and  Central  France. 

The  Peruvian  hurling-disk  is  of  diorite  with  a  central  opening  1  inch  in 
diameter  and  10  circumferential  teeth  2  inches  long.  It  is  thrown  by 
aid  of  a  thong  like  the  bolus.  The  Mexicans  have  a  similar  weapon*^ 
and  the  Australians  a  crude  affair  of  the  same  general  idea. 

From  this  cutting  disk  whirled  by  the  finger  we  re'ach  by  a  single 
step  the  simple  pebble  which  is  hurled  by  hand.  We  began  with  a  stick, 
and  after  considering  the  club  simple  and  compound,  and  the  various 
forms  of  throwing  clubs,  have  come  to  simple  missiles — the  pebble  or 
small  bowlder.  Some^  tribes,  however,  are  not  content  with  the  stones 
of  the  brook,  but  shape  the  projectile ;  the  Tahitians,*"^  for  instance, 
make  oval  balls  of  stalagmite,  which  they  hurl  by  hand  with  force  and 
accuracy,  not  using  a  sling.  The  Fuegiaus,  although  very  skillful  with 
the  sling,  are  adepts  at  hurling  stones  by  hand. 

Incendiary  balls  were  used  by  the  ]N'ervii,  who  fired  the  camp  of  C.nesar, 
and  the  balls  of  charcoal  kneaded  with  clay,  and  found  in  the  lacustrine 
village  remains  in  Switzerland,  are  believed  to  have  been  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  arrow  with  a  lighted  tow  torch  is  commonly  noticed 
among  the  ancients,  and  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  the  bow 
and  arrow  survive. 

"'Aborigines  of  Australia,  i,  Fig.  170,  p.  352.  **Wood,  ii,  p.  283. 

<*  Wood,  i.  «  Louvre  collection.  *^  Wood,  ii. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


231 


ric.  31. — Navajo 
sling.  — Sa  tional 
Muticuiii . 


The  subject  liere  Uiiturally  diverges  and  takes  two  separate  paths. 
The  projectile  is  loose  and  is  liurled  by  a  stick  or  a  sliii}^ ;  or  it  is  at- 
tached to  a  striug  which  flies  with  it.  We  shall  cousider  these  sepa- 
rately aud  in  the  order  stated. 

Tlie  slin<;-  is  an  unimpressive  object  wlieii  liun^  uj)  ainon;;-  a  thousand 
other  thin;;s  in  a  collection,  and  how  many  were  overlooked  l)y  the 
writer  at  the  Centennial  it  is  not  i)ossible  to  say.  The  example,  Fi^;.  31, 
was  in  the  National  IMuseum  exhibit  in  the  Government 
Building,  having  been  obtained  from  the  Navajoes  of  Xew 
Mexico.  Slings  are  rarely  used  among  this  pcoj)]*'  at  pres- 
ent, except  by  boys.  They  are,  however,  mentioned  in  tlu' 
old  actiount  of  the  "Journey  to  the  tSeven  Cities  of  Cibola.'" 
There  is  no  doubt  about  the  antiquity  of  the  device.  It 
is  mentioned  frequently  in  the  Hebrew  writings,  and  is 
shown  on  the  Egyptian^'  and  Assyrian  monuments.''"  The 
Konum  sling  was  named  from  its  funda  or  purse  which  con- 
tained the  ])rqjectile.  Besides  its  ordinary  use  for  hurling 
stones,  leaden  balls  {(jhoidcs)  were  used ;  these  wereellipsoid- 
al  i)lummets,  often  with  inscriptions  ui)on  them,  as  "FIK," 
for  Jirmiter,  ''throw  steadily";  Grecian  bullets  also,  marked 
with  the  figure  of  a  thunderbolt,  or  the  inscription  (h^at, 
"take  this,"  have  been  found.  Schliemanir'"  recovered 
from  the  excavations  at  Ilissarlik  sling-bullets  of  loadstone,  copper, 
alabaster,  and  diorite.  The  fmtibolus  was  a  four-foot  pole,  which  had  a 
sling  attached  in  the  center,  enabling  both  hands  to  be  used  in  throwing. 

The  sling  is  not  so  universal  a  weapon  that  a  statement  of  the  coun- 
tries where  it  is  used  becomes  a  mere  geographical  recitation.  The 
Javan  sling  •'''  {handrhtr/)  is  uoti(;ed  by  Sir  Stamford  liaflies.  The  Fijians, 
as  already  stated,  excel  in  its  use.  The  sling  of  the  Sandwich  Islanders^^ 
is  a  double  thong  with  a  stone  receptacle  of  plaited  sinnet.  The  stones 
are  egg-shaped  and  ground  for  the  pur]iose.  Another  form  of  Hawaiian 
sling  has  an  oval  stone  with  a  circumferential  groove,  and  is  hurled  by 
a  cord  passed  around  it  and  secured  by  a  sailor's  half-hitch  so  as  to  be 
released  when  the  thong  is  jerked  T)ack  to  discharge  the  stone.  A  simi- 
lar mode  of  hurling  the  spear  is  foun<l  in  South  America.  The  a\Iarque- 
sas  Islanders '^^  use  slings  of  plaited  grass,  as  much  as  five  feet  in  length, 
aud  hurl  stones  of  considerable  size.  The  natives  of  New  Caledonia  ^^ 
have  a  sling  {ivouJaf)  which  is  a  double  thong  with  a  purse  in  the  middle 
made  of  two  parallel  cords.  The  stones  are  a  hard  kind  of  steatite 
ground  to  an  oval  shape  and  polished.  They  are  carried  in  a  net  at  the 
right  side  and  are  discharged  after  a  half  whirl  of  the  sling.     Some  of 

«  Kitto,  i,  370.  '" 

■*^  Layarrt's  Nineveh,  Pis.  vi,  vii,  ii,  263.     Xenophon's  Anabasis,  lib.  iii,  c.  3. 

^  Sclilioniann's  "  Troy  aud  its  Remains,"  101.     Nos.  6(5-7-8. 

6'  "Java,"  4to,  PI.  iv,  opp.  p.  296,  vol.  i ;  Fis.  22. 

6*  Wood,  ii,  p.  434.  •'■^/^^k/.,  ii,  p.  390.  "ittU,  ii,  p.  205. 


232        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

the  New  Caledonian  slin^-stones  are  shaped  like  two  spherical  segments, 
joined  at  their  bases,  giving  a  sharp  circumferential  ridge.  Tlie  same 
form  is  found  in  New  Zealand  and  in  the  stone  age  missiles  of  Sweden. 
AYooden  slings  and  ribbon  slings  were  used  by«thc  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Sweden,  and  slings  of  bast  are  in  the  museums  of  Lund  and  Stock- 
holm.^^ Slings  of  plaited  flax  are  among  the  lacustrine  remains  of  Neuf- 
chatel.^" 

The  Solomon  Islanders  also  use  slings.  The  Fuegians"  excel  in  the 
use  of  the  sling,  as  well  as  of  the  bow  and  arrow  and  spear.  The  sling 
has  a  pocket  of  seal  or  guanaco  skin  and  two  thongs  three  feet  in  length 
of  twisted  sinews.    The  natives  throw  with  great  force  and  accuracy. 

Pliny  ascribes  the  invention  of  the  sling  to  the  Phoenicians.  He 
always  had  a  guess  to  make;  sometimes  a  very  wild  one.  The  Balearic 
Islanders^'''  were  celebrated  for  their  expertness  in  its  use.  The  slingers 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  armies  were  considered  an  inferior  class  of  war- 
riors, the  sling  being  but  an  auxiliary  weapon. 

Another  mode  of  slinging  is  by,  means  of  a  stick  thrust  through  a  per- 
forated stone  and  whirled  so  as  to  discharge  the  missile  when  it  has 
attained  a  maximum  centrifugal  motion. 
Fig.  32  shows  two  throwing-stones  from  Peru,  adapted  to  be  slung 

by  a  stick  wliich  is  thrust  into 
the  hole.  The  Peruvians  were 
very  expert  in  the  use  of  the 
sling.^^  Whorls  of  star  shape 
were  found  in  great  quantities 
by  Schliemann  in  the  excava- 
tions at  Hissarlik.^^    Although 

FIG.  ^.-Throvnnn-stones,  Peru.  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  COnsldcrcd    Spludlc 

whorls,  it  is  altogether  probable,  so  great  was  their  number,  that  they 
were  ammunition.  Disk-shaped  and  cylindrical  throwing-stones  i)er- 
forated  for  the  stick  are  found  among  the  remains  of  the  Lake  Dwellers.^" 
The  Fijians  have  a  rough  game  of  jerking  stones  at  each  other  with 
elastic  bamboo."^ 

Numerous  stones  fashioned  into  shapes,  and  many  of  them  with  circum- 
ferential grooves,  are  to  be  found  in  European  and  American  collections, 
labelled  plummets  (net-sinkers),  sUng-stoncs,  &c.,  according  to  the  fancy 
or  opinion  of  the  discoverer  or  owner.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Ameri- 
can perforated  stones  which  may  be  plummets  or  gorgets.  There  is  a 
tendency  to  give  a  warlike  signification  to  such  finds  recovered  in  the 
soil,  in  mounds  or  in  graves.  The  civil  uses  of  these  objects  were  i^rob- 
ably  much  more  frequent  than  the  warlike ;  •  as  the  search  for  food  is  a 

s'5 Sven  Nilson  "On  the  Stone  Age."    Ed.  by  Sir  John  Lubbock,  pi.  v,  pp.  49,  53, 
S'^Morlot  in  Smithsonian  Report,  18C3,  p.  377.  s;  Wood,  ii,  p.  517. 

6"aCa*8ar's  Comm.,  ii,  1.  ss  Prescott's  "  Conquest  of  Peru,"  i,  72. 

69  "Troy  and  its  Remains,"'  No.  444,  PL  xl. 
w  "  Culturgeschichte,"  Taf.  2,  Figs.  CO-63.  ei  Wood,  ii. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       233 


more  ronstfmt  o('f'ni)ati()ii  tliaii  Wiir.     (Cf.  Sven  Nilsou,  edited  by  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  Loudon,  1.'5<)S.)'''^ 

Wo  now  pursue  the  other  branch  of  the  section,  in  which  the  ball  re- 
mains attaelied  to  the  cord  by  means  of  whieli  it  is  projected.  The  sim- 
]»lest  form  of  tliis  is  the  sinj^lc  stone  or  metallic  ball  sewed  uj»  in  raw- 
hide and  attached  to  the  end  of  ii  thon<;-  a  yard  lon^-.  This,  the  holas 
perdhhi  of  the  Spaniards,  is  whirled  ra])idly  around  the  head  and  then 
launched  at  the  enemy  or  the  ji:ame.  A  similar  ball  at  the  end  of  a 
shorter  thonj^'  is  used  as  a  shing-shot. 
The  bolas^'^  of  South  America  consists  of  two  or  three  balls  at  the  ends 

of  as  many  raw-hide  thonns,  about  nine  feet 
long",  which  are  tied  together.  The  hohiH  is 
swung-  around  the  head  of  the  rider,  the 
junction  of  the  thongs  being  in  his  hand 
and  the  balls  Hying  in  a  cluster.  As  soon 
as  they  are  launched  at  the  game,  the  balls 
tly  apart  by  their  centrifugal  force,  and, 
still  Hying  round,  have  a  movement  of  trans- 
lation in  the  direction  of  their  projection. 
As  soon  as  a  thong  strikes  the  object,  the 
balls  coil  around  it  in  contrary  directions, 
binding  and  entang- 
ling it  according  to 
the  intention  of  the 
thrower.  This  is  not 
too  much  to  say,  for 
the  Patagonian  will 
bind  the  rider  to  the 
horse,  or  tie  the  legs 
of  an  animal  together 
or  to  the  body  at  will. 
Stones  of  ovoid 
form  made  of  tra- 
chytic  tufa  and  iiorforated  for  raw-hide  stra])s  are 
used  by  the  California  Indians. 

Figs.  33  and  34  show  the  holas  exhibited  at  the 
Centennial  by  the  Argentine  Kepul)lic.  They  con- 
sist of  stones  or  balls  of  clay  in  raw-hide  pockets 
at  the  ends  of  twisted  thongs  of  raw-hide.  The 
specimens  ditter  much  in  weight,  from  one-quar- 
ter of  a  pound  to  one  and  a  half  pouiuls,  and  in 
size  from  one  and  a  (piarter  inches  to  three  inches  in  dianu'ter.  They  are 
sewed  up  in  their  envelopes,  and  in  one  case  openings  are  made  to  expose 
the  bright  red  color  of  a  peculiar  stone  of  the  country.    It  is  the  duty  of 


Fig.  'i'i.—Biilnx  of  Paraguay,  Argentine 
C'oii/ederalion. 


Bdlat   of  Argentine 
Ji'eptiblic. 


^Syen  Nilsou,  PI.  ix,  Fig.  216;  PI.  ii,  Fig.  31-35. 


Page's  "La  Plata,"  112. 


234        SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

the  women  to  cut  and  srind  these  stones,  but  in  some  cases  iron  or  even 
copper  balls  are  used,  the  metal  being  preferred  when  attainable  on  ac- 
count of  its  being  smaller  for  a  given  weight.  There  is  some  variation 
in  the  arrangement  also :  (somai)  two  holas  at  the  end  of  9-feet  thongs ; 
{achico)  three  bolas,  one  on  a  rather  longer  thong;  or  one  of  the  thongs 
has  attached  to  its  mid-length  a  pair  of  balls  on  the  end  of  three-foot 
thongs.  The  range  of  the  bolas  is  from  30  to  40  yards.  The  natives, 
when  in  danger,  wear  several  cuirasses  of  stiff  raw-hide  as  a  guard  against 
them,  the  armor  being  put  on  like  a  poncho — over  the  head,  which  is 
thrust  through  a  slit  in  the  hide.  The  helmet  is  of  double  bull-hide. 
The  holas  is  used  throughout  the  Argentine  Eepublic,  by  the  Gran 
Chaco  Indians  of  La  Plata,  the  Araucanians  (called  by  them  laqui),  and 
the  Patagonians ;  being,  in  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  mentioned,  the 
principal  means  of  captuiing  wild  animals.  The  guanaco,  a  species  of 
llama  about  the  size  of  st  deer,  is  the  main  dependence  for  food  and 
clothing  of  the  Patagonians.*^*  See  Muster's  account  of  the  Tehuelche 
Indians."^ 

Passing  at  one  bound  to  the  other  extremity  of  the  American  Conti- 
nent, we  find  the  Eskimo^^  in  possession  of  the  same.weapou,  but  on  a 
smaller  scale,  as  befits  the  game  it  is  intended  to  capture.  It  consists 
of  eight  or  nine  strings,  about  thirty  inches  long,  and  fastened  together, 
their  free  ends  being  attached  to  little  weights  like  i^lumb-bobs,  made 
of  bone,  walrus-tooth,  or  stone.  The  cords  are  of  twisted  sinews  or 
intestines.  The  balls  are  whirled  around  the  head  two  or  three  times 
and  then  sent  flying  through  the  air  like  a  large  cobweb,  lapping  with 
surprising  quickness  around  any  object  which  may  be  struck  by  the 
cords.     It  is  used  principally  in  catching  birds. 

The  lasso  was  shown  in  the  exhibit  of  the  Argentine  Confederation,  in 
the  main  building.  It  is  a  rope  40  feet  long,  made  of  raw-hide  strips 
plaited  into  a  round  rope,  excepting  a  few  feet  at  the  noose  end,  which 
is  plaited  square  and  is  fastened  around  an  iron  ring,  through  which  the 
lasso  passes  to  form  the  noose.  The  Araucanians  use  a  lasso  of  silk- 
grass  fiber  from  the  leaves  of  an  agave.  It  has  no  ring  for  the  noose, 
but  a  loop  of  the  agave  fiber  covered  with  leather.  In  using  the  lasso, 
the  ring  is  taken  in  the  left  hand  and  a  noose  six  feet  in  length  is  made; 
the  right  hand  then  grasping  the  cord  and  the  ring,  the  rider  takes 
another  six  feet  in  his  hand  and  whirls  the  noose  around  his  head 
until  it  becomes  circular,  when  he  hurls  it  at  the  object,  throwing  after 
it  the  remainder  of  the  rope,  which  hangs  in  coils  on  his  left  arm.  As 
it  passes  through  the  air  the  noose  becomes  smaller,  so  that  the  diameter 
of  the  noose  is  graduated  to  the  size  of  the  object  it  is  intended  to  cap- 
ture. It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  this  form  of  lasso,  a  noose  running 
in  a  metallic  ring,  was  a  weapon  in  the  armies  of  the  former  Singhalese 
monarch.^'' 


6*  Wood,  ii.,  p.  532.  65  u^^  HomeTvitli  the  Patagoniaus,"  p.  166, 

66  Wood,  ii.,  p.  711.  6'Tennent's  "  Ceylon,"  i,  499. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THlT   CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       235 


A  strangling  noose,  a  few  feet  lonff,  with  a  bone  or  wooden  pointed 
stick  at  one  e.nd  and  a  worked  eye  at  the  other,  is  used  by  the  AustraUau 
to  garrote  a  sleeping  enemy.  Passing  the  noose  over  the  head  and 
thrusting  the  skewer  through  the  looj),  he  throttles  his  victim,  who  is 
powerless  to  make  a  noise,  and,  throwing  him  over  his  shoulder,  carries 
him  from  the  camp."^ 

II. — Axes. 

If  the  name  of  a  tool  is  to  be  determined  by  its  sha])e  and  mode  of 
usage,  the  first  axe  was  of  wood.  The  Australian  department  showed 
several  bludgeons,  the  enlarged  tlattened  ends  of  which  had  sharp  edges. 
IJeing  of  blue  gum  {Eucalyptus  globulus),  a  hard  heavy  wood,  they  are 
eflicient  weapons  in  war 
or  in  hunting,  though  not 
suitable  for  felling  tim- 
bef.  They  are  shown  at 
a  b,  in  Fig.  35 ;  c  d  are 
from  New  Zealand,  and 
e  is  from  the  Ilaidah  In- 
dians of  Bella-Bella,  Brit- 
ish Columbia. 

The  transition  from  one 
material  to  another  may 
be  traced  in  many  coun- 
tries in  yet-existing  tools; 
the  change  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  jirob- 
lems  of  the  archaist  and 
ethnologist,  and  it  is  rec- 
ognized in  a  Chinese 
tradition  :  "  Fuhi  made 
Aveajxtus;  these  were  of 
wood ;  those  of  Shin- 
luingwere  of  stone;  then 
Chi-yu  made  metallic 
ones." 

After  the  club  or  slung- 
stone,in  -which  a  bowlder 
is  nu)unted  on  a  withe, 
or  boun<l  to  a  stick,  or 

slung  at  the  end  of  a  raw-  Fk-..  3,-..— Tr.w/oi  axes,  fromAmtmlia,  Xcw  Zealand,  and  Britinh 

hide  thong,  comes  an  at- 
tempt to  give  a  cutting  edge  to  the  tool.  It  need  not  be  merely  as- 
sumed, as  it  is  capable  of  demonstration,  that  the  mounting  of  un- 
wrought  spalls  of  stone  preceded  the  fashioning  of  stone  axes.     The 

68  Smith's  "  Aborigines  of  Victoria,"  i,  351,  Fig.  169. 


236        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

New  Soutli  ^^'^lk^s  exhibit  .showed  a  collection  of  spalls  of  greenstone 
and  sandstone  obtained  by  the  natives  by  merely  dashing  bowlders 
together  and  picking  up  the  pieces  which  most  nearly  approximated  the 
desired  form.     Those  shown  in  the  collection  were  of  sandstone,  con- 


FiG.  3G. — Stone  spalls  for  axes,  Clarence  River,  Neiv  Suuth  Wales. 

glomerate,  slate,  basalt,  and  trachyte.  Such  axes,  when  helved,  are  used 
by  the  natives  in  ascending  and  for  felling  trees,  cutting  firewood,  iu 
war  and  the  chase,  and  for  cutting  themselves  to  embellish  their  bodies 
with  cicatrized  wounds. 

In  many  countries  are  to  be  found  famous  localities  yielding  stones 
for  axes.  In  Nan-hin-fu,  in  the  i^roviuce  of  Kwantong,  in  Southern 
China,'^^  they  find  in  the  mountains  a  heavy  stone,  which  furnishes 
materials  for  cutting-tools  for  the  region  around.  Obsidian  is  used  in 
Mexico,  Khamschatka,™  and  elsewhere. 

The  stone  axes  and  adzes  of  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition  may  be  con- 
sidered together.  The  difference  in  the  tools  is  in  the  relation  of  the 
cutting  edge  to  the  handle.  In  thh  axe  the  line  of  the  edge  is  in  the 
plane  of  the  handle.  In  the  adze  the  edge  is  across  the  plane  of  its 
sweep.  The  examj^les  afforded  us  may  be  classed  iu  two  divisions:  first, 
stone  and  shell;  second,  metal.  The  subdivision  which  will  be  most 
useful  will  be  as  to  the  four  methods  of  mounting  the  axe-head  in  or  on 
the  handle;  and  w^e  have  instances  of  each  in  the  stone  axes,  and  of 
three  out  of  the  four  in  the  metallic  axes,  and  this  without  going  outside 
of  the  crude  implements  shown  in  Philadelphia. 

The  four  modes  of  mounting  or  helving  an  axe  are : 

1.  By  winding  a  withe  around  it. 

2.  By  lashing  it  to  a  seat  on  the  handle. 

3.  Hy  passing  the  tang  through  a  hole  in  the  handle. 

4.  By  passing  the  helve  through  a  hole  in  the  head. 

69Grosier,  "De  la  Chine,"  Paris,  1818,  i,  191. 
TOErman,  '^Eeise,"  in,  453. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITIOX. 


237 


Fk;.  37. — ^fttl>ri  xloiie  hatchet.  New  Zealand. 


Before  adducing  examples  of  eacli  of  these  inetliocls,  we  may  simply 
notice  the  stone  hatchet  from  New  Zealand,  which  is  used  independently 
of  a  handle,  and  is  a  hand-to-hand  weai)ou,  like  some  of  the  merainoY  pdtUr 
patns,  shown  in  a  ])r<'vious  ar- 
ticle, and  considered  character- 
istic of  the  Maori  race. 

AVhilo  some  of  the  methods 
of  seciirin<;tlie  axe-head  to  th(^ 
helve  are  considered  indicative 
of  certain  tribes  and  jx'oples, 
it  cannot  bo  said  that  any  pe- 
culiar mode  is  found  at  a  certain  place  or  in  such  a  tribe  and  nowhere 
else.  In  fact,  it  may  be  stated  that  amon<j:  the  various  tribes  of  Xorth 
American  Indians  all  the  modes  (!ited  may  be  found,  and  si)ecimens  from 
the  lacustrine  dwellinj^s,  to  be  seen  in  the  nnii^'ums  of  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, show  that  all  the  modes  stated  were  in  use  among  the  early  inhab- 
itants of  ]^2uro])e. 

Fig.  .kS  shows  three  native  stone  axes:  a  from  Victoria,  h  from  South. 
Australia,  and  e  from  the 
Sioux  country  of  the  Mis- 
souri Valley.  They  agree 
in  the  mode  of  fastening 
the  head  to  the  handle, 
a  withebeing  bentaround 
a  dei)ression  in  the  stone 
and  secured  by  lashings ; 
these  will  depend  upon 
the  material  at  hand.  In 
the  case  of  the  stone  axe 
{mogo)  a,  from  Victoria, 
the  head  is  a  chipped 
greenstone  2  by  4  inches, 
and  is  mounted  in  a  withe 
with  moss  and  "black- 
boy  gum."  The  weapon 
(a)  is  far  in  advance  of 
the  art  of  the  present  na- 
tives, who  use  the  rudest 
stone  axes,  mere  spalls, 
as  just  described,  and 
shown  in  Fig.  ;3().  The  natives  say  that  this  mof/o  was  made  by  a  people 
Avho  preceded  them  and  of  whom  they  have  no  knowledge.  It  need  not 
on  that'account  be  necessarily  very  old,  but  it  seems  that  it  was  some- 
Avhat  of  a  local  curiosity  to  the  i)articular  tribe  in  which  it  Avas  found. 

The  lad  jo,  mo-go,  and  other  stone  tomahawks  of  Australia,  are  well 
delineated  and  described  in  a  careful  treatise  just  published  by  E. 


Fio.  3S.— Stone  axes  of  Australia  and  America. 


238         SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

Brongli  Sinitli.''  They  arc  of  granite,  quartz,  &c.,  one  edge  cliipped 
sharp,  a  i)oll  left  relatively  Hat;  all  adai)ted  to  be  handled  witli  withes, 
nnground,  and  secured  by  gum. 

In  New  South  Wales  the  natives  take  for  the  handle  the  flowering 
stem  of  the  waratah  or  native  tulip,  or  the  vine  of  pcpperoma,  or  thej'^ 
carefully  split  the  small  water  gum  of  the  streams,  and,  by  the  action 
of  fire,  make  the  piece  pliant  and  wrap  it  like  a  withe  around  the  stone 
axe-head.  They  next  take  the  resinous  and  brittle  gum  of  the  grass- 
tree  {Xanihorhoca),  which  they  knead  and  toughen  by  the  fire  process. 
With  the  heated  gum  they  cover  the  equator  of  the  stone  and  take 
around  it  one  or  two  turns  of  the  pliant  withe,  securing  its  junction 
with  a  thong  of  the  bark  of  the  coorajong  tree ;  they  then  fill  that  i)art 
of  the  handle  secured  around  the  stone  with  the  melted  gum,  and  the 
weapon  is  ready  for  duty  in  a  few  hours.  By  the  aid  of  this  instrument 
the  natives  chop  notches  for  the  toes  in  ascending  high  trees,  cut  out 
the  opossum,  or  tap  the  trees  for  honey ;  with  it  they  also  fashion  icad. 
dies,  boomerangs,  and  other  wooden  implements,  and  crack  the  bones  of 
animals  for  the  marrow.  In  some  portions  of  the  island,  sinews  from 
the  tail  of  the  kangaroo  do  duty  as  lashings.  The  sinews  are  steei^ed 
in  hot  water,  pounded  between  stones  to  separate  them  into  filaments, 
and,  while  yet  pliable,  they  are  wrapped  around  the  stone  and  the 
handle  ;  in  drying  they  shrink  and  hold  the  objects  together  with  great 
firmness.  The  lashing  is  then  covered  with  the  "  black-boy  gum "  of 
the  grass-tree. 

The  celt  or  stone  axe  is  one  of  the  most  common  objects  in  museums, 
and  generally  shows  its  adaptation  to  a  withe  handle.'^^  In  the  excava- 
tions at  Hissarlik,  at  a  depth  of  from  23  to  33  feet  below  the  present  sur- 
face. Dr.  Schliemann  recovered  well-made  axes  of  diorite  and  of  hard  and 
semi-transparent  greenstone."  One  of  these  was  fractured  at  the  eye, 
but  they  were  generally  adapted  for  withe  handles.  So  common  is  the 
celt  that  it  has  entered  into  the  superstitions  of  various  nations,  and  is 
supposed  to  be  a  "thunder  stone"'*  and  to  have  fallen  from  the  sky. 
This  idea  is  prevalent  in  China,  England,  India,  Brittany,  Finland, 
Japan,  Brazil,  Madagascar,  and  elsewhere. 

Axes  of  the  second  class,  lashed  to  a  seat  on  the  handle,  had  numer- 
ous representations  at  the  Exhibition.  Fig.  39  is  a  stone  designed  to  be 
mounted  as  an  adze,  and  Fig.  40  shows  a  greenstone  blade  lashed  to  a 
handle  formed  of  a  limb  with  a  i)ortion  of  the  adjacent  trunk.  The 
fastening  is  evidently  but  a  substitute  for  the  original  elaborate  lashing, 
which  had  fallen  off.  Some  of  the  Maori  adzes  are  of  green  jade. 
Another  stone,  locally  known  as  toJce,  is  also  used,  but  is  much  inferior  to 
the  former  in  quality  and  ai^pearance.    Cf.  black  basalt  adzes  found  in 

"  "Aborigines  of  Victoria,"  Melbourne,  1878,  i,  pp.  359-380.     Figs.  175-198. 
''^  Dr.  Abbott,  in  Smithsonian  Keport,  1875.     Figs.  11,  19. 
" Schliemaun's  "Troy  and  its  Eemains,"  p.  21,  No.  2;  p.  94,  No.  56. 
"Tylor's  "  Early  History  of  Mankind,"  pp.  208,  210-211,  222-227. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


239 


Scania,  Sweden,''  an<l  at  Xootka  Sound;  also,  tlio  Hint  axes  of  Scandi- 
navia, which  are  never  bored,  but  are  rough  chipped  and  uugrouud.'*^ 
Axes  of  diorite,  fjreen- 
stonc,  and  basalt  have 
sometimes  holes  bored 
throuj^h,  by  which  to 
suspen«l  them. 

Fig.  4  L  is  a  stone  adze       _ 

(J'oi ))<'!('      ]it(iit<>(()      from  Fi<i.39. — stone  adze  (unmounted),  Neto  Zealand. 

the  Sandwich  Islands;  it  is  nine  inches  long.  Fig.  42  is  a  sliell  adze 
from  a  shell  heap  on  Saint  John's  Itiver,  Florida.  The  adze  of  the  Felew 
Islanders '''  is  made  of  the  shell  of  the  giant  clam.     Shell  is  used  as  a 


Fio.  40.— Maori  adze,  \ew  Zealand. 


material  for  cutting  instruments  in  many  places  where  stone  and  metal 
are  rare  ;  such  as  were  formerly  some  of  the  West  Indies  and  some  islands 
of  Polynesia  and  Oceauica.    The  Pelow  Island  implement  may  be  turned 


Fifi.  41. — Stone  adze.  Sandwich  Tdands. 


Fk;.  42. — Shell  adze.  Saint  John's 
River,  Florida. 


in  the  head  so  as  to  be  used  as  an  axe  or  an  adze.     The  same  adaptability 
may  be  found  in  an  iron  axe  adze  of  the  Dyak  of  Borneo.     The  war  axe 


'*Nil8on'8  "  Stone  Aj^o,"  PI.  vii,  Fij^s.  147,  150,  aud  page  62. 

■'^IhkL,  p.  04,  iind  I'l.  vii,  Fi^'.  If.:?. 

"Wood's  ''Natural  History  of  Man,"  ii,  p.  450. 


240        SAVAGE   WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL   EXHIBITION. 


of  the  Fijiaiis  is  shown  iu  Fig.  43.    It  was  exhibited  in  the  Main  Build- 
ing.    Its  stone  head  is  carefully  lashed  with  braided  siunet  to  an  elabo- 
rately carved  wooden  handle. 
The  stone  adzes  of  the  Marquesas  are  most  accurately  shaped  and 

finished,esj)ecially 
those  of  a  ceremo- 
nial  character. 
The  handles  of 
such  are  fairly  hon- 
eycombed  with 
carvings,  in  such 
a  manner  that  a 
central  handle  ap- 
pears to  be  sur- 
FiG.  iz.-Fiji  ivar  axe.  rouiidcd  by  a  sort 

of  filigree  or  incrustation  of  geometrical  work.  The  lashings  of  i)laited 
coir  [sinnct)  are  vers'  elaborate  and  carefully  laid.  Specimens  obtained 
by  the  Wilkes  Expedition  are  in  the  National  Museum  of  Washington, 
D.C. 

The  stone  adze  (Fig.  44)  of  the  Makah  Indians  of  Puget's  Sound, 
California,  shows  an  observation  of  the 
tools  of  the  white  man.     The  handle  is 
evidently  copied  from  that  of  a  hand- 


riG.  ■^.— atone  adze,  Puget's  Sound.  FiG.  45. — Eskimo  ice-pick.  Nunivak  Island 

saw  which  the  native  mechanic  had  seen  and  admired.  The  use  of  the 
stone  and  the  method  of  lashing  are,  however,  quite  characteristic.  Fig. 
45  is  an  ice-pick  of  walrus  ivor^^,  lashed  to  a  handle  of  pine.     It  is  from 

the  Magemut  Eskimo  of  IJunivak 
Island.  Fig.  4G  is  an  Eskimo  ice- 
I)ick  made  from  a  whale's  rib, 
lashed  with  raw-hide  •thongs  to  a 
massive  yew- wood  handle.  These 
picks  are  used  for  breaking  the 
crust  of  snow  and  in  keeping  the 
seal-holes  open.  The  specimen 
is  from  Anderson  Eiver,  British 
America.  The  example  (Fig.  47) 
shows  another  variation  in  the 

Fig.  46.— Eskimo  ice-pick,  British  Cidumhia.  modC      Of      fastcuiug.        Like      the 

former,  it  is  made  from  a  whale's  rib,  and  is  lashed  with  raw-hide  thongs 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       241 


to  a  pine  handle.  It  is  from  the  chooJc  chees  ( Tuchnclc-tfichis)  of  Nortlieast 
Liberia.  The  mode  of  fastening;  is  much  like  that  of  the  ohl  Egyptian 
hoes,  as  shown  in  Wilkinson's  works. 


Fig.  47. — Ice-pick  and  skin-dresscr,  Siberia, 


Fio.  iS.—Stono  adze,  British  Columbia. 


Fig.  48  is  the  last  illustration  we  shall  offer  of  this  mode  of  attaching 
the  bit  or  blade  to  the  hamlle  of  wood.  It  is  a  small  adze  of  argillite 
lashed  with  twisted  sinews  to  a  handle  formed  of  a  forked  branch.  Such 
implements  were  used  in  smoothing  the  insides  of  canoes.  The  main 
stem  was  grasped  by  the  left  hand,  and  the  smaller  one  by  the  right. 
It  is  from  the  Ilaidah  Indians  of  Bella-Bella.  British  Columbia. 

We  reach  the  third  class  of  our  first  division  and  notice  the  single 
instance  in  the  Pliilade]i)hia  Exhibition  in  which  a  modern  stone  axe 
was  inserted  through  a  hole  in  the  handle.  This  has  been  deemed 
the  characteristic  African  method,  and  with  much  reason,  though 
instances  of  its  adoption  are  found  elsewhere ;  the  New  Caledonians, 
for  instance,  mount  their  axes  like  the  Africans,  putting  the  tang  of  the 
bit  through  a  perforated  knob  on  the  end  of  the  handle.  As  almost  all 
the  African  tribes  use  iron,  smelted  and  worked  by  native  smiths,  the 

instances  of  the  African 

method  will  occur  more 

fre(piently  in  the  second 

'  division  of  the  subject, 

which  treats  of  nu'tal. 

The  modern    axe   of 

greenstone  (Fig.  40)  is 

used  in  ]\Io/.aiiibi<pie,  a 

Tio.  49.— stone  axe  of  Mozambique.  rortU""Uese     COlouy     in 

Eastern  Africa.  The  bit  is  8  inches  long,  and  is  lashed  with  strips  of 
raw-hide  to  a  wooden  handle,  which  is  carved  at  the  hand-hold.  The 
lashing  is  covered  with  cowrie-shells,  which  form  in  part  the  currency 
of  the  natives;  they  answer,  we  may  suppose,  the  same  purpose  as  the 
gold  mounting  of  a  dress-sword.  The  inhabitants,  though  well  ac- 
S.  Mis.  54 IG 


242        SA.VAGE    WEArONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


Fig.  50. — Slone  axe. 


quaiuted  with  metal,  retain  old  habits,  and  among  them  the  use  of  stone 
implements,  in  ceremonial  uses  perhaps,  rather  than 
in  the  business  of  life.  Tliat  stone  should  linger  after 
the  advent  of  metal  is  not  sur[)rising  when  we  reflect 
that  the  stone  battle-axe  was  used  by  many  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  at  Hastings,  and  some  of  tlie  Germans 
were  armed  with  it  at  so  late  a  period  as  the  "Thirty 
Years'  War." 

Fig.  50  shows  one  of  the  articles  generally  catalogued 
as  a  "spade-like  implement."  It  was  possibly  an  axe 
adapted  to  pass  through  the  handle  and  be  secured  by 
a  lashing  of  sinew  or  rawhide. 

Fig.  51  shows  five  ancient  implements  obtained  in 
V various  parts  of  the  United  States,  from  mounds  and 
elsewhere ;  «,  i,  and  d  are  from  Louisiana ;  e  is  from  Iowa ;  c  not  noted. 

The  three  last  examples  are  double- 
headed  ceremonial  axes,  and  do  not 
materially  difier  from  examples  in 
the  figure  following,  excepting  in 
not  being  jjerforated  for  the  handle. 
The  frequency  of  the  omission  in- 
dicates that  the  two  methods  of 
mounting  were  simultaneously  em- 
plo^ed. 

This  brings  us  to  the  fourth  class — 
perforated  axes,  which  are  consid- 
ered by  Sir  John  Lubbock  as  prob- 
ably characteristic  of  the  early  me- 
tallic iieriod  in  Europe.  "^ 

It  was  long  thought  that  the  per- 
foration of  the  axe-head  did  not 
occur  until  the  implement  came  to 
be  made  of  metal.  It  is  true  that  the 
labor  of  boring  in  stone  without  the 
aid  of  metal  and  'the  weakening  of 
so  frangible  a  material  might  ex- 
clude that  mode  of  mounting ;  but 
it  must  be  recollected  that  time  is  of 
no  moment  to  a  savage,  never  hav- 
ing read  Solomon  or  Dr.  Watts,  and 

Tig.  51.-Axesfro7n  Indian  mounds,  ac.  ^q^   taking    IcSSOUS    frOm   inSCctS 

which  are  simjjly  a  nuisance  and  point  no  moral  in  Africa. 

The  examples  of  perforated  stone  axes  at  Philadelphia  (Fig.  52)  were 
from  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  were  shown  in  the  'Sa- 
^8 Lubbock's  Introduction  to  Nilson's  "Stone  Age,"  xxix. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXniBITTON.      243 


tional  ]\ruseum  in  the  Government  Bnildinp:.  They  are  ancient  and  are 
jjenerally  sni)pose(l  to  l)e  ofa  ceremonial  character.  It  was  either  not 
noted  or  was  not  ol)served  where  a  was  from  ;  h,  r/,  and  (f  were  from  Wis- 
consin ;  c  from  Xew  Jersey;  e  from  Connecticut;  h  from  Pennsylvania. 
So  the  i>ractice  of  makinpf  the  perforated  hipennls  in  stone  was  wi(h'ly 
spread.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  tlie  hok>  in  h,  Fij?.  52,  is  only  rudi- 
mentary. A  fine  selection  of  i)er- 
forated  axe-heads  from  Denmark 
is  in  the  Teabody  Museum,  Cam- 


Fio.  r^2. — Douhle-hitted perforated  axcx. 

bridge,  and  a  great  many  more  at  St.  Germain,  France,  and  in  the  mu- 
seum of  Geneva,  Switzerland.  This  object  is  called  a  "  banner  stone  "  in 
Abbott's  article  on  the  Stone  Age  in  Xew  Jersey";  compare  also  Nil- 
son's  "  Stone  Age."  8" 

The  hipouiis,  or  double-bitted  axe,  was  the  weapoji  of  tln^  female  war- 
riors of  Scythian  race  known  as  Amazons.  It  Avas  also  known  in  As- 
syria. Its  antiquity  may  also  be  assumed  from  its  being  the  sacrificial 
axe  of  the  Roman  j^riesthood :  DoJahra  ponflJicaJh.  The  old  scena  or 
mccna  of  the  Latins  had  two  cutting  edges,  largo  and  small,  the  former 
seeuris  ;  the  latter  ^?o/a/>/vf.  It  may  have  been  copied  from  tlie  agricul- 
tural axe  (lolahru,  which  was  something  like  our  mattock,  with  an  axe 
edge  and  a  i)ick  on  the  respective  ends  of  the  head,  and  was  used  in 
cutting  wood  and  clearing  land  of  bushes  and  grubs.  The  ilohiheJUi  was 
the  small  axe  or  bill-hook.  The  sacrificial  nudlrusvrns  a  round  ball  i)er- 
forated  for  a  handle,  and  it  also  seems  to  indicate  the  long-sustained 
use  of  very  primitive  forms  of  weai)ons  and  implements  for  ceremonial 
l)urposes. 

Many  copper  battle-axes  were  recovered  by  Schliemann  from  a  depth 
of  28  feet  in  the  ruins  of  Hissarlik.  " 


"'•'  Sinitbsoiiian  Report,  lt!75,  p.  '632. 
«>Nil8on,  PI.  viii,  Fig.  173  and  p.  71. 
81  <'Troy  and  its  Remains." 


244        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL   EXHIBITION. 


Fig.  53. — Eskimo  adzes. 


We  have  now  reached  the  second  division  of  axes,  those  of  metal.  In 
this  section  we  can  scarcely  preserve  the  quadripartite  subdivisions  of 
the  stone  group.    The  collection,  however,  furnished  good  specimens  of 

crude  workmanship  in 
two  classes  of  axes — 
those  which  are  lashed 
to  a  seat  on  a  handle 
and  those  which  xjer- 
forate  the  handle. 

The  examples  of  those 
which  are  lashed  to  a 
seat  on  the  handle  are, 
singularly  enough, 
tools  in  which  iron 
blades  obtained  from 
the  whites  have  been  attached  to  handles  in  the  manner  previously 
adopted  with  stone  tools.  Fig.  53  shows  two  adzes  of  the  Anderson 
Eiver  Eskimo,  the  handles  of  which  have  been  ingeniously  fashioned 
to  fit  the  hand.    The  blades  are  both  made  of  hatchet  heads,  in  one 

case  (o)  the  eye  is  made  use 
of  in  lashing  the  handle  to 
the  iron ;  iu  the  other  case 
(Jb)  the  eye  has  been  ground 
away,  and  it  is  secured  to 
the  handle  by  thongs  in  the 
manner  of  a  stone  celt.  The 
tools  indicate  both  the  in- 
veterate habit  of  mounting 
and  also  the  preference  for 
the  adze  method  of  using. 

The  Greenlander's  adze 
(Fig.  54),  shown  in  the  Dan- 
ish department  of  the  Main  Building,  is  made  of  a  common  2^-inch 
chisel  strapped  by  a  seal-skin  thong  to  a  beech  wood  handle  about  a 

foot  long.  Fig.  55  is  a  small  hand 
adze  or  chisel  with  a  bone  handle. 
The  blade  was  originally  a  hatchet 
of  which  the  eye  has  been  split  and 
a  piece  removed.  The  handle 
shows  an  imitation  of  a  saw-han- 
dle.    It  is  from  the  Haidah  In- 


54. — Chreenlanders'  adze. 


Fig. 


-Indian  adze,  Haidahs,  British  Columbia. 


dians  of  Bella-Bella,  British  Columbia. 

The  Javan  axes '^^  are  mounted  in  diiferent  ways ;  two  kinds,  known 
respectively  as  2?(?^^^  and  tPrtr7K7?</,  are  chisel-shaped  tools  lashed  to  stocks 
whose  natural  growth  as  a  fork  facilitates  that  method;  another,  called 

~  ~        83Kafflea  "Java,"  4to,  i,  174,  Figs.  1,  2,  4. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       245 


sangHiilc;  lias  an  eye  for  the  helve  in  the  manner  next  in  order  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

The  Javan  battle-axe  {kudi  tranchaiuj),  formerly  a  princiijul  weajxiu  of 
Java,  ^3  is  not  now  much  used,  and  is  suprisinj,dy  like  a  freakish  weapon 
used  l)y  tlie  natives  of  Central  Africa. 

Tlie  Jai>anese  axe  is  a  ccmipromise,  its  bent  tau^^  bciu^,'  held  by  a  ring 
which  slips  on  the  handle.^* 
Africa  furnishes  us  with  the  greatest  variety  of  tlie  axes  whicli  per- 
forate the  han- 
dle. Begin- 
ning at  the 
south,  we  lind 


Fio.  57. — liechuana  axes.  South  Africa. 


the  Katirs85  in 
possession  of 
an    axe,    but 

rio.56.-j«pa»e*e  ^^'""^'^  principal 

axe.  weapon  is  the 

assegai,  a  javelin  made  by  their  native  blacksmiths.    With  the  Iceerie  or 

short  club,  shield,  and  assegais,  a  Zulu  considers  himself  well  furnished. 

The  Bechuana  axe.  Fig.  57,  is  a  steel  bit  sinqjly  fastened  by  a  tang  ia 
the  enlarged  wooden  head.  The  term  Bechuana  may  be  used  generally 
to  include  a  number  of  tribes,  embracing  the  Makololo,^*'  who  are  among 
the  most  accomplished  workers  in  metal  on  the  continent. 

The  smaller  axes  in  Fig.  57  are  other  patterns,  made  by  the  Bechuanas; 
and  Fig.  58  is  ==--_^ 


a  still  more 
fanciful  one, 
shown  in  the 
Portuguese 
Colonies  De- 
])artment  of 

the  Agricultural  Building.    The  head  is  of  steel  and  the  handle  is  in  part 
wrapped  with  fine  wire.    The  blade  is  peculiar  in  form  and  ornanuMita- 

tion,  and  has  what  we 


should  consider  a  rather 
insecure  attachment  to 
the  helve.  Fig.  5J)  is 
another  axe  of  Angola, 
shown  in  the  same  col- 
lection ;  it  has  a  curious 
curved  blade  and  a  long 
¥ir..  ryrf_—jix4;  of  Angola.  taug    iuscrtcd    in    the 

usual  African  method  into  the  wooden  handle. 
The  elephant  axe  of  the  Banyai,"  of  the  Zambesi,  was  also  snown  in 

*« Rallies  "Java,"  4to,  i,  PI.  opp.  p.  29(5,  Firr.  7. 

«Siebold'8  " Nippon,"  vi,  PI.  6;  alsoii,  PI.  .5  his.,  Figs.  14,9, 15,  IG,  13;  also  ii,  PI.  11, 13. 

«» Caaalia'  " Basutos,"  132.         ^ Balnea'  "South  Africa,"'  4G7.         8^  Wood  i,  p.  404. 


Fiu.  bS.—Battk-axe,  Angola,  Africa. 


246        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


the  group  of  Angola  and  Mozambique  weapous,  Fig.  GO.  It  has  a  very 
long  tang  projecting  entirely  through  the  handle,  and  secured  thereto 

by  raw-hide  lashing.  One  end 
has  an  axe-blade  and  the  other 
a  spear  point.  The  handle  is 
made  by  cutting  off  a  limb  of  a 
convenient  length,  and  also  a 
small  piece  of  the  trunk  at  the 
insertion  of  the  branch.  A 
hole  for  the  tang  is  then  bored 
through  the  knotty  wood,  where 
thelimbisas  it  were  rooted  into 
the  body  of  the  tree.  The  han- 
dle is  then  dressed  to  shape. 

FIG.  m.-mephant  axe  of  the  Banyai,  Zambesi,  Africa.      rjr^^  ^^^^^^  j^   SOmctimCS   three 

feet  in  length,  and  is  carried  over  the  shoulder.  It  is  used  in  ham-string- 
ing the  elephant.  The  hunters  go  in  i)airs,  one  carrying  the  axe  while 
the  other  goes  before  the  animal  to  distract  his  attention.  The  axeman 
comes  up  behind  stealthily  and  severs  one  ham-string  of  the  animal  at 
a  single  blow.  One  form  of  the  elephant  axe  was  noticed  to  have  a 
curved  handle  and  a  stay-lashing  at  a  point  six  inches  distant  from  the 
socket. 

The  Banyai  of  the  Zambesi  have  also  a  convertible  axe  and  adze.  The 
knob  of  the  handle  has  two  slits  at  right  angles,  so  that  the  tang  of  the 
blade  may  be  optionally  inserted  either  to  bring  the  edge  in  line  with 
the  sweep  of  the  tool,  as  with  the  axe,  or  transversely,  as  with  the  adze. 
Curiously  enough  the  Water  Dyaks,  of  Borneo,  have  a  chipping  tool  of 
the  same  kind  used  in  boat-building.^^  It  has  an  iron  blade,  wooden 
head,  and  ratan  (Malay  rotan)  lashing.  The  blade  has  a  square  tang, 
and  by  taking  it  out  of  the  socket,  turning  it  one-quarter  round,  and  in- 
serting it  again  the  blade  is  changed,  in  reference  to  the  handle,  from  an 
axe  to  an  adze,  or  vice  versa. 


Fig.  61. — Axes  of  Egypt,  India,  Mexico,  and  Yucatan. 

The  Djibba  axe  has  two  pointed  i^rongs  projecting  lengthwise  from 
the  head  to  make  it  efficient  in  thrusting.  The  Monbuttoo  axe,"^  follow- 
ing the  universal  African  type,  has  its  tang  inserted  through  the  thick 
end  of  a  knobbed  club. 


88  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  453. 


88Schweiiifurth's  "Airica,"  vol.  ii,  p.  112. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       247 


Fig'.  Gl  sliows  tliat  this  system  of  insortinj?  the  blade  in  the  liandle  has 
been  practiced  in  far  distant  times  and  phices.  a  b  are  ancient  forms  of 
Egyptian  bronze  axes.^  c  d  are  ancient  axes  from  the  ISaclii  tope'-"  at 
Bhilsa,  in  Central  India,  c  is  an  axe  shown  on  a  Mexican  nionnment. 
The  obsidian  or  copper  blade  is  inserted  in  the  handle,  /and  (j  show 
the  iustrumeut  known  as  mdhquahuiti,  a  double-headed  axe  with  obsidian 


(^ 


'^^""^"^^^-^-^-^-^^^^^^^^^^^       - 


Fio.  62. — Axe  of  the  Philippines. 

flakes  inserted  in  wooden  handles,  h  shows  a  copper  axe  of  Yucatan, 
the  plate  being  inserted  in  a  slitted  handle.  The  battle-axe  was  the 
weapon  of  the  Peru- 
vian soldiery.^2  Nu- 
merous Trojan  battle- 
axes  of  copper  were 
found  by  Dr.  Schlie- 
mann  at  Uissarlik.^^ 

The  axe  of  the  Thil- 
ijjpines  was  shown  in 
the  Spanish  Building. 
It  has  a  peculiarly 
shaped  head  and  a  long  i''«-  c3.-cns«e-<<'-te,  Dakotah. 

ferrule.  The  hand-stop  on  the  helve  was  the  only  instance  of  the  kind 
in  the  exhibition.  It  is  a  sort  of  rudimentary  guard,  like  a  partial  hilt 
on  the  two-handed  helve.     (Fig.  C2.) 

The  jungle  hook  of  the  Singhalese  {ic((l-(h(l-<it)  and  a  chopping  axe 
{proay^  are  used  for  clearing  brush  and  cutting  trees.  Even  the  poor 
Veddahs  of  the  interior  forests  "have  a  little  ax,  which  they  stick  in 
by  their  sides,  to  cut  hoiu'y  out  of  hollow  trees." ^^ 

Fig.  03  is  a  Dakotah  Indian  war-club  (ca.sse-tete)  ornamented  with 
carving  and  armed  with  a  leaf-shaped  steel  point.  The  peasant  of  Brit- 
tany carries  a  knobbed  stick  resembling  the  Kajir  hnoh-Tccerie.    (Fig.  1.) 

soRitto,  vol.  i,  p.  507  ;  "Duleth,"  p.  7. 

9>  Cunuingliam'8  "  Bhilsii  Tope,"  pi.  xv,  Figs.  8,  9. 

'"Proscott's  "Conquest  of  P(!ru,"  vol.  i,  p.  72. 

MSchliemaun'a  "Troy  and  its  Remains,"  pp.  330,  331. 

9^ Knox's  "Ceylon,"  pp.  273-4. 

»ifcjd.,  p.  61.' 


248       SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT   THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


Fig.  63. — Norwegian 
axes. 


It  is  called  a  casse-tcte  by  the  Freucb  of  the  neighboring  departments, 
but  j)en-bas  by  tUe  Bretons.^''     Sec  also  the  marble  knob  for  a  stick,  found 
by  Dr.  Scliliemann  at  llium.^" 
The  same  form  is  shown  by  Catlin  to  have  been  very  common  among 

the  Blackfeet  and 
other  Indian  tribes 
on  the  headwaters 
of  the  Missouri. 
An  axe  of  Terra  del 
Fuego,  shown  by 
Nilson,  has  a  blade 
of  iron  inserted  in 
the  African  man- 
ner in    a   wooden 

Fig.  di.— Halberds,  India  and  Norway.  stOCk      which      haS 

becQ  dressed  by  flint  tools.^^  Desor  also  shows  hatchets 
of  (liorite,  serpentine,  and  quartzite  in  sockets  of  buck- 
horn,  which  were  mounted  in  a  wooden  handle  by  a 

lateral  hole 
in  the  side 
of  the  club. 
Ill  another 

case  the  stone  was  inserted 
endwise  in  a  horn  socket 
which  was  pierced  for  the 
liandle.^^  In  another  case 
the  stone  in  a  horn  handle 
had  the  j)Ositiou  formerly 
occupied  by  the  brow  antler. 
Fig.  0-4  shows  three  forms  of  halberds,  light  axes  on  long  handles : 
c  is  from  Norway  and  belongs  to  the  class  with  a  tang  driven  into  the 
handle ;  a  h  are  Sowrah  battle-axes  from  India,  and  belong  to  the  last 
class  of  our  list — the  handle  inserted  through  an  eye  in  the  head.  To 
this  also  belong  the  Norwegian  axes  (Fig.  Qo)  and  the  Arickaree  iron 
tomahawk  (Fig.  60). 

III. — Knives  and  Swords. 

The  knife  in  its  primitive  form  is  a  sharp  flake  of  stone  or  obsidian, 
a  sliver  of  bamboo  or  wood,  or  a  shell  with  a  sharpened  edge.  When  the 
point  is  the  specially  engaged  portion  the  weapon  is  a  dagger.  Many 
other  crude  materials  furnish  the  hand-to-hand  cutting  or  piercing 
weapons,  such  as  the  pointed  hornsof  animals,  the  tail  of  the  stingray, 

seTrollope's  "  Summer  Tour  iu  Brittany,"  Loudou,  1840,  Pis.  opp.  pp.  I2b,  220,  296. 

^''  Schlieraann's  "  Troy  and  its  Remains,"  p.  265. 

9«  "  Stone  Age,"  PI.  vii,  Fig.  155. 

93  Desor.  trausl.  iu  Smithsonian  Report,  1865,  pp.  360,  361,  Figs.  17,  18,  19. 


Fig.  66.— Iron  tomahawk,  Dakotah. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       249 


shark's  teeth  tied  upon  a  staff,  and  sharpened  bones.  When  the  <lispo- 
sition  exists  a  weai)on  will  be  found  somewhere,  and  the  most  curious 
are  those  where  the  choice  of  material  is  but  small  and  metal  is  inacces- 
sible. Metal  once  obtained,  the  variety  of  weai)ons  decreases,  and 
knives,  daggers,  and  swords  assume  a  somewhat  uniform  character. 

The  i)ersistent  ceremonial  use  of  slones  for  knives,  after  the  use  of 
metal  had  been  i'ully  estaldished  for  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  is  notice- 
able in  many  old  records  and  in  the  observation  of  late  travelers.  AVe 
may  mention  the  stone  knives  used  by  the  Egyptians,  Ethio[)ians,  and 
riebnnvs  in  circumcision,"'"by  the  Egyptians  in  embalming,""  in  obtaining 
the  balm  of  Gilead,'"^  in  the  human  sacriticcs  of  Mexico,  in  the  gashing 
of  the  flesh  of  fanatics,'"^  and  in  inducing  the  cicatrized  wounds  which 
form  the  ornaments  or  tril)al  marks  of  some  savages.  To  these  may  be 
added  the  gashing  of  the  liesh 
by  the  New  Zealanders  in  their 
mourning,  and  the  stone  fleams 
used  by  the  North  American  In- 
dians for  bleeding. 

Museums  have  crude  stone 
sjiallsand  well-fashioned  knives 
of  stone  in  variety,  but  we  can 
only  appeal  for  illustrations  to 
the  collection  in  riiiladelphia. 
In  the  upper  and  stone  periods 

of   the  hill  of  Ilissarlik  in   Asia  I'lu.  GT. — Obxidian  nucleus  and  Jlakcu.  Mexico. 

Minor,  tSchliemaun  found  numerous  flint  knives.'"*  Some  have  edges 
like  ordiiuiry  knives ;  others  are  serrated.  At  a  depth  of  23  feet  he 
found  double-edged  knives  of  obsidian,  sharp  as  razors. 

Flint  Hakes  and  luiclei  from  the  stone  age 
of  Scandinavia,  and  flint  knives  from  (Ireen- 
laiid  and  New  Zealand  made  of  spalls,  and 
others  of  chipped  flint,  are  shown  by  Nil- 
son  '•'•■  and  by  Dr.  Abbott,  of  New  Jersey."* 
Obsidian  was  a  favorite  material  where  obtainable.  It  was  used  in 
Mexico  in  the  manutiicture  of  sacrificial  flake-knives,  arrow-points,  &c."" 
The  flakes  were  si>lit  off  by  the  skillfully  api)lied  pressure  of  a  T-shai»ed 
wooden  implenu'nt.  The  nucleus  and  Ihdces  (Fig.  07)  were  shown  in  the 
National  Museum  and  are  from  Mexico.  The  same  collection  in  the 
Government  Building  had  the  obsidian  knife  (Fig.  08).    This  has  a 

'<»  Exodus,  iv,  2");  Joslina,  v,  '2. 

101  Herodotus,  ii,  86;  Diodoriis  Siculus,  i,  Ul ;  Kitto,  i,  81. 

'»-  Pliny,  xii,  54.  * 

^"^Ibid.,  XXXV,  40  ;  xi,  100.     Coniparo  also  Pliiiy,  xix,  57  ;  xxiii,  81 ;  xxiv,  6,  62. 

104  ti  Troy  and  its  Rpmaiiis,"  p.  79. 

'o-'"  Stono  Arr.',"  p.  76  and  PI.  ii ;  Figs.  24,  23,  and  PI.  iii,  v. 

lo*"' Smithsonian  Report,  1875,  p.  300. 

107  Torquemada. 


Fi,:.  CX—Ohxiilianhii/e,  California. 


250      SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

wooden  liaiullc  which  shows  the  marks  of  a  similar  cutting  instrument, 
and  is  tberclore  a  veritable  specimen  of  the  stone  age. 

The  YcUowstoae  Park  has  lately  been  stated  to  possess  hills  of  obsid- 
ian of  dilierent  colors,  which  have  afforded  for  ages  the  material  for  the 
arrow-heads  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  the  vicinity. 

The  flint  knives  of  the  Indians  of  the  California  peninsula  are  men- 
tioned by  Baegert.'"^ 

As  far  away  as  the  Admiralty  Islands  of  the  Papuan  group  we  find  ob- 
sidian used  for  knives,  razors,  and  spear-points.'"^  The  natives  tie  the 
spear-heads  to  the  shaft  with  i)laited  string  coated  with  gum.  The  knife 
used  by  the  New  Caledonians  for  carving  the  human  body  is  called 
7ibouet,  and  is  a  flat  serpentine  stone  oval  in  form  and  seven  inches 
in  length.  Holes  are  bored  in  it,  by  which  it  is  fastened  to  a  wooden 
handle.  The  Kew  Caledonians  eat  their  slain  enemies,  the  women,  who 
are  the  cooks,  following  the  army  and  dragging  the  bodies  off  the  field 
to  prepare  them  for  the  supper  of  their  returning  husbands  and  broth- 
ers. The  palms  being  considered  as  tid-bits,  are  the  perquisites  of  the 
priests.  Each  part  belongs  to  certain  persons,  and  the  carving  is  regu- 
lated by  rules.  The  body  is  opened  by  the  nhouet  and  the  intestines  re- 
moved with  a  fork  made  of  two  human  arm  bones  sharply  pointed  and 
lashed  together.  The  women  cooks  prefer  to  truss  the  bodies  in  sitting 
posture,  bake  them  whole,  and  serve  them  in  war  costume. 

Many  collections  show  knives  of  flakes  of  silex  mounted  in  wooden  and 
horn  backs,""  and  serrated  knives  or  saws  made  by  the  insertion  of  flakes 
of  obsidian,  flint,  or  shark's  teeth  in  a  grooved  wooden  back.  Some 
are  mentioned  later  when  referring  to  spears.  Such  are  found  in  Cali- 
fornia, Sweden,  the  Philij)pines,  Australia,  and  elsewhere.  The  knife  "^ 
dahba  of  the  Victorian  blacks  consists  of  quartz  fragments  attached  to  a 
wooden  handle  with  gum. 

Passing  to  knives  of  wood,  we  find  none  which  would  make  impres- 
sive illustrations;  in  the  South  Sea  islands  wood  has  been  the  prin- 
cipal material;  until  lately  stone  was  unknown  in  some  islands,  and 
metal  in  almost  all.  The  Fijian  knife  for  cutting  up  baJcolo  (long  pig),  as 
the  edible  human  body  is  called,  was  a  sharp  sliver  of  bamboo."''-  The 
Ajitas  of  the  Philippines  and  New  Guineans  also  use  the  bamboo  sliver."^ 
The  Sandwich  Islanders  have  a  battledore-shaped  piece  of  wood  "Mike 
the  mcrai  of  the  Maories,  but  armed  on  the  edge  with  shark's  teeth.  It 
was  formerly  emjilo^'ed  in  cutting  np  the  bodies  of  warriors  who  fell  in 
battle,  or  of  persons  sacrificed.    The  Mundurucus  of  the  Amazon  use  a 

i°sTranslatiou  in  Smitlisouiau  Report,  1863,  p.  363, 

109  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  302. 

""Desor.  traiisl.  in  Smithsonian  Report,  1865,  p.  360. 

"1  Smith's  "Aborigines  of  Victoria." 

"2  Smytho's  "  Ten  Months  iu  Fiji,"  p.  85. 

ii»  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  242. 

^^*lbid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  435. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        251 

bamboo  knife  in  decapitating,^  their  enemies  to  prepare  tbe  heads  as  tro- 
phies. Tlie  jjentle  sava;;es  aie,  however,  jiot  oblivious  of  tiie  vahie  of 
metal  when  they  have  an  o])p()rtunity  to  see  it.  Francis  Si)arrow,  whom 
Raleigh  left  to  explore  the  country  of  the  Orinoco,  received  eijijht  beau- 
tilul  yonn^ir  women  for  a  red-handled  knife — value  in  Kn<;lan(l  at  that 
time  e(]ual  to  one  cent. 

The  Australian  da^j;er  is  a  stick  ])()inted  at  both  ends,  grasped  by  the 
midlength,  and  struck  right  and  left."^ 


FlO.  69. — Greeidande.rn'  hmie  kiiircD. 

In  the  extreme  northern  countries  no  material  is  so  ready  to  hand  as 
bone.  The  harpoons,  knives,  and  many  other  domestic  implements  of  the 
Eskimo  are  of  bone.  Fig.  00  shows  the  fish  and  blubber  knives  of  the 
Kajak  natives  of  Greenland.  They  were  shown  in  the  Danish  collection 
in  the  Main  Building,  a  is  made  of  the  bone  of  a  whale,  and  is  18  inches 
long;  h  is  of  wood,  and  is  10  inches  long.  Fig.  70  shows  two  other  bone 
implements  of  the  Kajaks,  a  bone  knife  used  in  skinning  tlie  seal,  and 
a  fish  scoop.  The  knife  is  14  inches  long  and  two  and  a  half  inches  wide; 
the  bone  spoon  is  four  inches  long  and  two  wide. 


Fig.  70. — Bone  implements  of  Greenland. 


Some  of  the  bone  knives  of  the  Laplanders  are  very  elaborate,  espe- 
cially those  used  in  preparing  skins. 

"6  Smith's  "Aborigines  of  Victoria,"  vol.  i,  p.  302. 


252        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

The  Eskimo  in  winter  live  in  dome-shaped  houses,  called  igloos,  built 
of  blocks  of  ice  or  snow.  These  blocks  are  voussoir  shaped,  so  that 
they  make  a  safe  and  symmetrical  vaulted  structure.  They  are  hewn 
from  the  bank  or  field  of  solidified  snow  with  large  knives  like  Fig.  71, 

made  of  the  bones  of  m  hales.  Several  of 
these  knives  were  shown  in  the  ^National 
Museum  and  in  the  Greenland  department 

TiG.n.-i:6ki,uubuaesnuw'knife.  of  the  Danish  collection.  Two  men,  one 
to  cut  blocks  and  one  to  lay  them,  will  erect  a  house  in  two  hours.  Just 
above  the  door  a  large  plate  of  fresh- water  ice  is  built  in  so  as  to  illu- 
minate the  interior.  Inside  is  a  raised  bench  of  snow,  on  which  are  laid 
sprigs  and  such  scanty  vegetation  as  the  summer  affords,  to  support  the 
seal-skins  which  form  the  bed  and  bench.  The  dwellings  are  sometimes 
as  much  as  16  feet  in  diameter  and  8  feet  in  height.  The  inevitable 
lamp  is  a  stone  dish  with  a  wick  of  moss  supported  in  it,  and  a  quan- 
tity of  oil  fed  from  blubber  piled  upon  it.  This  lamp  is  at  once  the 
warming  and  cooking  stove,  the  light,  the  means  of  drying  the  clothes 
and  melting  the  snow  for  drink,  for  the  whole  family  occupying  the 
igloo.  Above  the  lamp  is  the  cooking-pot,  which  also  does  duty  in  con- 
taining snow  to  be  melted  for  drinking  water.  Above  the  ccoking-pot 
(and  by  this  time  we  are  pretty  near  the  roof)  is  a  net  spread  to  hold 
wet  fur  clothes,  in  order  that  they  may  be  dried;  after  which  they  are 
chewed  to  make  them  supple. 

Poniards  and  pike-heads  of  bones  of  deer  and  urns  are  described  by 
Desor.*'^ 

One  or  two  other  instances  of  animal  material  used  in  knives  and 
daggers  may  be  mentioned  before  we  reach  the  metallic.  The  double 
dagger  of  the  East  Indies  has  two  sharpened  antelope  horns  joined  at 
their  bases  ;  or  it  is  a  single  straight  two-ended  blade  of  steel,  a  circular 
guard  protecting  the  handle  of  the  w^eapon,  which  is  intended  to  strike 
right  and  left  in.  a  crowd.  The  Sandwich  Islanders  use  daggers  {paliua) 
of  wood,  held  in  the  middle  and  having  a  point  at  each  end.  The  large 
mussel  shell  is  the  knife  of  the  Fuegian  ;  the  original  edge  is  knocked 
off  and  the  solid  portion  made  sharp  by  grinding  upon  a  stone.  The 
dagger  of  the  Pelew  Islanders  is  the  tail  bone  of  the  sting-ray,  and  it 
is  carried  in  a  sheath  formed  of  a  joint  of  bamboo.  The  Tahitian  dag- 
ger has  the  tail  of  the  sting-ray  as  a  point ;  it  comes  off  in  the  wound 
and  works  deeper  and  deeper. 


Fig.  72. — Indian  knife  of  native  copper. 

This  brings  us  to  metal,  of  which  we  first  consider  copper. 
The  cctpper  knife.  Fig.  72,  was  taken  from  an  Indian  mound.     It  does 
"6  Desor.     Translation  in  Sniitlisonian  Eejiort,  1865,  p.  358. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


253 


not  appear  that  any  of  the  North  Aiueriean  Indians  who  had  access  to 
copper  worked  it  by  smelting' ;  but  they  treated  it  as  malleable  stone 
and  shaped  it  by  haniinerinj;-.  The  (Ireenland  Eskimo  make  knives  from 
the  copper  obtained  from  Coppermine  Kiver,  from  Hint,  from  walrus 
ivory,  or  from  such  pieces  of  iron  as  they  may  obtain  l)y  barter  or  may 
pick  up  from  whalers  or  explorers. 

Fi'g.  73  shows  a  number  of  copper  implements — knives,  a  spear,  and 


Fio.  73. — Native  copper  implements,  Wigcongin. 

a  hook ;  these  are  Indian  remains  from  Wisconsin,  the  metal  having 
doubtless  been  obtained  from  the  Lake  Superior  copper  district  in 
earlier  times.  They,  together  with  many  other  copper  tools,  were  exhib- 
ited by  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society  in  the  ^Vlineral  Annex  of  the 
Main  Buildin/j:.  We  cannot  pretend  to  distinguish  carefully  between 
the  weapon  and  the  domestic  implement.  A  knife  is  a  knife  whether 
for  the  throat  of  an  enemy  or  of  a  deer. 


Fio.  74. — Copper  weapon  and  steel  dagger,  British  ColuTnbia. 

Fig.  74  shows  a  knife-like  club  a  of  native  copper,  a  hereditary  posses- 
sion in  the  family  of  a  Haidah  cliief  in  British  Columbia.    Beneath  it 


254       SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


is  shown  a  double-ended  dagfger  (ft),  bound  with  copper,  and  obtained 
from  the  Kutchin  Indians  of  Northwest  British  America.  Such  daggers 
are  forged  by  the  Indians  from  ohl  files  obtained  from  sawmills  near  the 
settlements.  They  are  in  general  use  among  the  northern  and  north- 
western tribes.  / 

Copper  seems  to  have  been  the  earliest  metal  to  be  fashioned  into 
tools,  and  its  alloy,  bronze,  the  first  efficient  tool  material.  INIolds  of 
mica  schist  for  casting  copper  weapons  and  ornaments  were  found  by 
Dr.  Schliemann  in  the  hill  of  ITissarlik."^  Tliere  are  also  many  such 
specimens  in  museums.  The  modern  supposition  that  the  ancients  had 
a  method  of  tempering  copper  as  we  do  steel — or  with  analogous 
effects  at  least — is  a  myth.  The  metal  acted  upon  was  the  alloy, 
bronze,  and  the  range  of  effects  is  far  inferior  to  the  capacity  of  steel. 
The  Assyrians  wore  a  profusion  of  daggers,  two  or  more  in  the  same 
sheath."*  The  handles  were  elaborate,  made  of  ivory,  inlaid,  set  with 
precious  stones,  carved  the  shape  of  heads  of  animals,  etc.  One  of 
copper  was  found  by  Layard  at  Nimroud.  The  Assyrians,  like  the 
Persians,  probably  used  them  as  knives. 

Copper  knives  were  found  by  Schliemann"^  in  the  lowest  stratum  of 
the  excavations  at  Ilissarlik ;  one  of  them  was  gilt.     Also  a  number  of 
copper  daggers  at  a  depth  of  28  feet. 
Egyptian  knives  were  of  bronze  and  of  copper.'^" 
A  comi^arison  of  the  forms  of  knives  of  the  ancients  and  moderns 

shows  that  what  may  be  termed 
the  "leaf-shaj^e"  has  been  very 
general.  It  is  true  that  the  variety 
of  shapes  of  leaves  is  so  great  that 
the  term  may  be  held  indescript- 
ive  ;  it  suits  the  case,  however. 

Fig.  75  shows,  in  the  uiij)er  row, 
a  number  of  Eoman  knives  of  the 
classical  period,  and  in  the  lower 
row  a  number  of  African  knives  of 
the  present  day.  a  is  the  secespifOj 
a  sacrificial  knife  with  an  iron  blade 
and  an  ivory  handle  ornamented 
with  gold  and  silver ;  h  is  the^w^io 
or  two-edged  dagger  worn  by  the 
officers  of  the  army  and  by  persons 
of  rank ;  c  is  the  culter  coqinnarUis. 
or  cook's  knife ;  <?,  the  cuJtrarhis, 
for  cutting  the  throat  of  the  sacrificial  victim ;  e,  the  c.  venatorius,  or 
huntsman's  knife;  /,  the  falx  vinitoria,  or  vinedresser's  knife;  g,  the  falx 
arhoraria,  for  pruning  and  hedge-trimming. 

The  swords  of  the  bronze  age,  dug  up  from  the  lacustrine  village 

'"'Schliemann's  "  Troy  and  its  Eemains,"  p.  139.        "«  "  Nineveh,"  vol.  ii,  p.  264. 

119  "Troy  and  its  Remains,"  150;  pp.  332, 333.  '^o  Wilkinson.    Kitto,  vol.  i,  p.  372. 


Fig.  75. — Ancient  Roman  and  modem  African  knives. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


25i 


sites,  are  many  of  tliein  like  some  of  the  fijLfiires,  in  the  uppor  especially. 
See  Desor,'-'  where  they  are  shown,  some  with  jiroovcd  blaiU's  and  as 
much  as  oO  centimeters  in  length;  also  bronze  poniards  and  knives  with 
tongs  and  soekcts.'^- 

The  lower  row  shows  h  i  J  /r,  knives  of  the  Fans  of  ^^'estern  Africa. 
These  are  sometimes  as  much  as  three  feet  in  length  and  seven  inches 
in  width;  tlicy  are  kejjt  very  sharp  in  a  sheath  of  wood,  which  is  in  two 
halves,  and  is  bound  together  witli  strips  of  raw-hide  covered  with  snake 
or  human  skin.  /  is  an  Unj'oro  knife  of  iron,  the  handle  bound  with 
coi)j)er  wire.'-'^  m  n  are  two  two-edged  daggers  of  the  Xiani-niains.''^* 
The  dagger  is  worn  in  a  sheath  of  skin  atlaclied  to  the  girdle.  The  lances 
knives,  and  daggers  have  blood-grooves,  differing  in  this  respect  from 
the  Bonjo  or  J)yoor  weapons.  I>oth  of  the  last-mentioned  tribis  have 
two-handled  knives.  The  l>onjo  knife'-'  is  used  by  the  women  in  peeling 
tubers  and  slicing  gourds  and  cucumbers ;  it  has  an  oval  shape,  and  is 
sharj)  on  both  sides,  like  the  Unyoro  knife  1,  Fig.  75.  The  Dyoor 
knife'-"  is  si)indle-shaped,  and  is  used  for  similar  i)ur])0ses. 

Dr.  Schliemann  found,  in  his,  excavations  at  Troy,  a  dagger  of  steel 
four  inches  long.  The  blade,  which  is  double-edged  and  in 
the  form  of  an  arrow,  is  l.C  inches  long,  and  in  a  jterfect 
state  of  preservation,  which  Dr.  Schliemann  attributes  to 
the  antiseptic  power  of  the  red  wood  ashes, 
mixed  with  charcoal,  in  which  he  found  it  em- 
bedded, in  the  large  mansion  close  to  the  gate, 
28  feet  below  the  surface. 

The  Balonda  dagger  from  the  Zambesi  is 
shown  in  Fig.  16,  and  has  a  remarkable  resem- 
blance to  a  and  (',  Fig.  75,  which  are  respectively 
Roman  and  Gaboon.  This  dagger  is  24  inches 
long,  and  the  handle  is  partly  wrapped  with 
raw-hide.  The  handle  is  by  no  means  a  con- 
venient one,  but  no  doubt  the  owner  felt  well 
satisfied  with  its  ornamental  appearance  as  it 
protruded  from  the  scabbard. 

Fig.  77  is  an  Angola  dagger,  with  an  iron 
blade  and  wooden  handle.  It  looks  much  more 
like  business  than  its  fellow. 

Fig.  78  shows  an  Angola  dagger,  with  a 
^0/ Hahnda^A/-  straugclyshaiied   scabbard  of  sheet  copper. 
It  has  a  copper-covered  wooden  handle  and  a 
steel  blade.    The  broad  base  of  the  sheath  is  probably  indicative  of  its 

'*' Translation  in  SmitliHonian  Report,  1865,  p.  374. 

"-/W</.,  pp.  374,  371-'72. 

•'^'' Ijakcr's  "  Isiuailia,"  plalo  opposite  p.  135. 

'^■•Sclnv.'infarth's  "Africa,"  vol.  ii,  pp.  10,  27. 

^^Tbi4  ,vol.  i,  p.  281. 

'*«  Wood,  vol.  i,  p.  503. 


Fin.    "il.— Angola 
Dagger. 


256        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


nationality,  tlie  same  feature  not  liaving  been  noticed  elsewhere.  Its 
purpose  is  not  apparent.  The  sheath  of  the  Icris  has  a  considerable  lateral 
enlarj^enient  at  the  upper  end,  but  that  weapon  has  a  corresponding 
guard.     It  will  be  referred  to  presently,  among  swords. 

The  collection  of  savage  arms  from  the 
Portuguese  colonies  of  Angola  and  Mozam- 
bique, exhibited  in  the  Agri(;ultural  Build- 
ing, was  not  excelled  in  its  kind  in  the  whole 
Exhibition.  With  many  additions,  it  was 
again  exhibited  in  Paris  in  1878. 

Some  of  the  articles  therein  shown  were 
from  the  Banyai  of  the  Zambesi,  the  Be- 
chuanas,  and  tribes  with  which  the  parties 
crossing  between  the  western  and  eastern 
Coasts  of  the  continent  come  in  contact. 
Passing  south  and  west  to  oSTatal,  a  very 
warlike  people,  the  Zulus  and  Basuto  Ka- 
firs, are  cyicountered.  The  articles  from 
this  people  were  shown  in  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  collection,  and  are  noticed  among 
G. ,  .—  ngo  a  agger.  clubs  and  spcars;  they  do  not  use  the  bow 

and  arrow.  The  assegai  is  the  principal  knife  of  the  Kafir.'-^  It  is  of 
semi-steel  of  soft  temper,  and  will  bend  and  keep  its  shape,  which  is 
taken  advantage  of  by  the  natives  in  making  bowls,  spoons,  and  pipes. 
He  prefers  it  to  the  steel  of  the  white  man,  which  breaks.  The  Bechu- 
anas  make  the  best  knives  in  that  region,  and  barter  them  to  other  tribes. 
The  blade  has  a  long  lanceolate  shape,  with  two  edges,  and 
the  weapon  is  worn  suspended  from  the  neck.'-*  The  handle, 
of  ivory  or  wood,  is  carefully  carved,  frequently  represent- 
ing an  animal,  a  hyena  or  girafte,  for  instance.  The  wooden 
sheath  is  made  of  two  pieces  of  w^ood,  hollowed  out  and 
bound  together  with  sinews.  The  same  is  used  among  some 
tribes  of  Kafirs.  The  carving  tool  of  the  Bechuanas  is 
more  like  a  chisel  -,  a  blade  like  a  thumb-nail  in  the  end  of  a 
handle.  The  Japanese  knives  are  numerous  and  peculiar.'^* 
Fig.  79  is  a  leaf-shaped  dagger  or  scalping-knife,  of  iron, 
with  a  bone  handle,  such  as  is  used  by  the  Blackfeet  and  ^'«-  "'-^—rnack- 

'  ^  foot   scalping- 

Sioux.    C.  Carver,  in  his  "  Travels,"  says  that  the  leaf-shaped     *"^>«- 
dagger,  made  in  his  time  of  bone,  was  peculiar  to  the  Nadowessioux, 
or  that  family  later  known  as  the  Da-ko-tahs  or  Sioux. 

There  is  one  class  of  weai)ons  for  grappling  at  close  quarters,  which 
may  be  mentioned  here,  as  it  was  shown  in  the  exhibit  from  British 
India.  The  haynuik  is  a  five-clawed  weapon  hidden  in  the  hand,  having 
loops  through  which  the  first  and  fourth  fingers  are  passed.     When  the 

i"Wood,  vol.  i,  p.  103.  i^scasalis'  "Basutos,"  p.  136. 

•29Siebold's  "Nippon,"  vii,  plate  19,  Figs.  3,  4,  5,  6. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXIIIIUTION.       257 

hand  is  opened,  the  steel  claws,  lilce  those  of  a  lion,  an^  exposed,  and 
are  intended  to  rip  the  naked  belly  of  the  adversary.  The  term  baymnic 
is  understood  to  include  several  forms  of  weapons,  such  as  brass  knuckles 
and  splices  which  are  <;arri<'d  in  the  hand. 

The  vSamoans  have  a  somewhat  similar  woapon — a  ^love  made  of  coir, 
and  havinj?  on  the  inside  several  rows  of  shark's  teeth,  set  hookinfi:  so 
that  they  retsnn  anythinjj^  which  is  grasped.  Lilcii  the  1)nymal\  it  is 
intended  to  rip  the  abdomen  of  an  enemy.  To  ^uard  themselves  a^^ainst 
this  weai)on  the  Samoans  use  a  heavy  and  wide  belt  of  coir,  re-aehinf:^ 
from  the  arm-])its  to  the  hips.  This  belt  was  the  nearest  to  the  nature 
of  clothin.i;^  of  anythini;  in  the  islands;  a  number  of  cords  of  sinnet  are 
strained  on  two  parallel  sticks  about  30  inches  apart;  the  sinnet  weft  is 
then  worked  in  over  and  under  alternate  threads."" 

The  htHjue  dc  inort,  seen  bj'  Stendhal  in  Ifonie,'"""  is  like  the  East 
Indian  haj/mak  in  the  mode  of  hidin;:^:  it  in  the  hand,  but  it  has  only  two 
claws,  which  arc  of  steel,  very  sharp  and  like  those  of  lions.  The  piece 
to  which  the  claws  are  rooted  is  held  in  the  hand  by  rings,  through 
which  pass  the  second  and  third  lingers,  beneath  which  the  claws  are 
hidden,  nothing  appearing  but  the  rings.  Poison  is  placed  in  grooves 
channeled  in  the  claws,  like  the  poison  groove  in  the  fang  of  a  rattle- 
snake. 

Stendhal  says:  "Dans  une  foule,  au  bal  par  example,  on  saississait 
avec  une  apparence  de  galanterie  la  main  nue  de  la  femrae  dont  on  voulait 
se  venger;  en  la  serratit  et  retirantle  bras,  on  la  dechirait  profondement, 
et,  en  meme  temps,  on  lassait  tomber  la  bague  dc  mart.  Comment,  dans 
une  foule,  trouver  le  coupableT' 

The  Djibba  tribe  of  the  Upper  Nile  wear  bracelets  for  cutting  and 
tearing,  the  edge  being  protected  by  leathern  sheaths  when  the  weapon 
is  not  required  for  duty.  Some  of  them  have  double  jagged  edges  and 
others  a  single  sharp  edge. 

The  Xuehr  carry  on  the  wrist  an  iron  ring  with  projecting  blades. 

The  Roman  boxing  gauntlet,  cesUis,  was  a  much  less  sanguinary  affair, 
being  merely  armed  with  lead  or  with  bosses. 

We  pass  from  knives  to  swords ;  which  is  but  to  an  implement  of  a 
larger  kind.  The  sword  proper  is  a  weapon,  but  the  machete  of  the 
Spaniard,  the  corn  and  cane  knives  of  the  plantation  and  farm,  are 
domestic  implements  of  similar  character,  but  with  less  ornamental  fur- 
nishing. Where  vegetation  is  as  large  a-;  that  of  the  corn  or  sugar-cane, 
a  sword  like  implement  is  necessary  in  gathering  it,  and  the  same  large 
knife  is  used  in  tropical  countries  in  cuttingaway  the  vines  and  creepers 
which  obstruct  the  narrow  pass(>s  through  the  woods.'^' 

Of  the  cruder  materials,  stone  and  wood,  used  in  swords,  the  Exhibi- 
tion furnished  but  few  examples.    Some  of  the  clubs  already  considered 

'•»Woo(i,  vol.  ii,  p.  354. 

inoa  "  proraena(l<'8  dans  Rome,"  vol.  i,  p.  267. 

>='  Raffle's  "Java,"  llo,  p.  113. 

S.  Mis.  54 17 


258       SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


liad  sharpened  edj;es  and  ai)i)roxiinated  the  sword  character.  The  New 
Zeahmd  stone  sword,  Fi^'.  80,  can  hardly  be  classed  under  any  other 
head,  as  it  has  a  handle,  a  back,  and  an  edge,  and  is  ad- 
apted to  deliver  a  cutting-  blow.  The  swords  of  the 
Pelew  Islanders  are  of  Avood  inlaid  with  i)ieces  of  shell.'^^ 
The  Kingsmill  Islanders  have  wooden  swords,  armed  on 
tlicir  edges  with  sharks'  teeth  lashed  with  sinnet  braided 
IVoni  the  liber  of  the  coQpa-nut.  The  wooden  blade  has 
grooved  ridges  to  receive  the  teeth,  cor- 
responding holes  being  made  in  the 
ridges  and  teeth  through  which  the 
braided  cord  is  repeatedly  passed  to 
fasten  the  teeth  in  this  artificial  alve- 
ohir  ridge.  The  swords  are  single  or 
double  edged,  and  have  guards  similarly- 
armed  with  teeth,  so  that  no  part  of  the 
weapon  except  the  handle  can  be  touched 
with  impunity.  The  spears  are  similarly 
armed,  like  some  whicli  were  shown  from 
the  Philippine  Islands.  A  fine  assort- 
ment of  those  weapons,  obtained  by  the 
Wilkes  Expedition,  is  in  the  National 
Museum  at  Washington. 

The  gold-coast  section  of  the  English 
colonies  presented  two  curious  swords 
with  broad,  thin  blades,  especially  wide 
near  the  point.  The  perforations  make 
the  blade  still  lighter.  The  tang  is  set 
in  a  wooden  handle  with  two  knobs,  be- 
tween which  is  the  hand-hold.  Fig.  82 
has  a  double  blade,  and  is  referred  to  as 
an  "executioner's  sword "5  a  weapon  in 
much  demand  all  around  that  part  of 
riG  so.-2raori  stone  the  worM,  especially  Dahom^. 
""""*•  blades  of  Fig 


The  two  "Fig.  SI.— Stvord  of  the 
gold  coast,  Africa. 

82  are  united  at  a  point 


where  the  flattening  of  the  bl^ides  commences.  The  blades  are  24  inches 
long;  the  carved  handles  are  8  inches  long,  and  one  of  them  is  gilded. 
The  swords  of  Dahome  ^^^  have  knobs  on  the  ends  of  the  blades,  so 
that  they  may  be  used  as  clubs.  One  noticed  had  a  knob  carved  like  a 
human  head.  The  back  of  another  had  a  series  of  backwardly-curved 
prongs,  intended  as  hooks  to  catch  a  pursued  enemy.  The  classic  liarpe, 
the  sword  of  Mercury  and  Perseus,  had  a  similar  prong,  ham  us.  Another 
sword  of  bloody  renown  is  the  weapon  of  the  "Eazor  Women,"  who  form 

15- Wood,  vol.  i,  p.  449. 

iMDuucan's  "Western  Africa,"  p.  226. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        259 


Fig.  K.—Tii'nhlailed 
award  of  lite  ijuld 
coast,  Africa. 


ono  battalion  of  tlie  Dulioint*  Ainnzoiis.  Tlio  weapon  is  coiiicd  from  tlio 
wliite  man's  razor,  but  Las  a  blade  2  feet  lonj,^,  and  a  handle  of  propor- 
tionate size.  A  spring  holds  the  blade  open.  It  is  as  if,  in  a  jocular 
si)irit,  soiiK'  trader  liad  foisted  an  absurdity  iii»(»n  tliem; 
but  the  natives  claim  it  as  an  invention  of  the  late  Kiiij^ 
Gezo.  The  real  razor  of  the  Ashantee  is  of  a  nearly  trape- 
zoidal form;  this  latter  is  for  leiritimate  shaviii;;. 

Coining soutinvardlyalon^" the  coast  of  Afiicawe  arrive 

at  Anj^ola,  which, 
as  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  re- 
mark, was  well  rep- 
resented in  the  Ag- 
ricultural Duilding. 
Fig.  83  is  a  sword 
made  by  a  native 
armorer  of  Angola; 
it  has  a  curiously- 
shaped  hilt,  and 
tufts  of  liorse-hair 
stained  red.  The 
hilt  is  in  part  cov- 
ered with  sheet-lead. 
The  gay  api)ear- 
ance  of  the  hilt, 
as  it  showed  when 
sheathed  and  worn 
at  the  side,was  prob- 
ably its  i)rincipal 
recom  m  e  n  <1  a  t  i  o  n . 

Fig.   83.- ^.ford   0/        axe.  >ii-tnooraoT  mo-  ^^^ 

Angola,  Africa^  zambique,  Africa.       ff  [^^     frpueral     sluipe 

of  the  Africj^n  sword  is  curved,  although  of  the  examples  from  the  Portu- 
guese colonies  two  are  straight  and  but  one  bent.  The  specimens  illus- 
trated from  other  sections  of  the  continent  will  amply  compensate  An-  the 
l)resent  larger  majority  of  straight-bladed  weapons.  Fig.  84  shows  a  na- 
tive sword  of  Mozambique.  It  has  a  short  wooden  handle,  from  which  the 
usual  button  on  the  end  of  the  tang  has  dropi)ed  oft'.  The  guard  of  the 
hilt  has  a  i)eculiar  scroll  shai)e,  and  one  branch  has  been  broken.  The 
sword  of  the  Ilamram  Arabs,  of  Central  Africa, '^^  is  also  straight,  double 
edged,  and  has  a  cross-guard.  The  blade  is  .'{G  inches  long,  and  each 
edge  is  as  sharp  as  a  razor.  It  is  carried  in  a  Avooden  scabbard  made 
of  two  pfeces,  hollowed  to  receive  the  blade,  and  covered  with  leather. 
With  this  weapon  the  Arab  will  cut  a  man  in  two,  or  will  hamstring  an 
elephant. 


'3<\Vooa,  vol.  i,  p.  753. 


260        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

Fig.  85  is  a  steel  cimeter  of  Mozambique,  with  a  broad  and  very  tliin 
blade.  I.  iias  a  wooden  handle  ornamented  with  sheet  brass  enchased 
and  jeweled.  It  is  40  inches  long-,  and  has  a  groove  near  the  back  of 
the  blade. 

ri<^.  SG  is  a  sickle-shape  cimeter,  brought  by  Col.  Long  (Bey)  on  his  re- 
turn from  his  expedition  into  Central  Africa  in  the  service  of  the  Khedive. 
It  was  shown  in  the  Egyptian  Department  in  the  Main  Building,  and  is 
like  the  Aveapon  represented  by  Schweinfurth  as  held  by  the  Monbuttoo 
King  Munza  during  the  audience  which  he  held  with  that  poteutate.'^^ 


Fig.  do.  — Cimeter  of  Mo- 
zambique, Africa. 


Fig.  86. — Monbuttoo  cimeter,  Central  Africa. 


It  is  usually  of  steel,  but  on  that  occasion  was  a  weapon  of  ceremony, 
and  made  of  pure  coj^per.  The  adjacent  tribe,  the  Xiam-niams,  use  im- 
plements of  somewhat  similar  shape,  curved  broad-ended  blades,  some- 
what after  the  bill-hook  order,  reminding  one  of  the  corresponding 
Eoman  implement,  the  falx  vinitoria. 

The  JcooJcery  of  the  Ghoorkas,  a  tiger-fighting  hill  tribe  of  India,-'*^  is 
another  example  of  a  boldly  curved  chopping-sword,  broad  near  the 
end,  and  shari^ened  on  the  concave  edge,  which  is,  however,  of  an  ogee 
shape.  It  is  about  fifteen  inches  long,  is  used  either  to  cut  or  thrust, 
and  is  made  of" the  famous  "  Wootz"  steel.  Two  little  knives  are  carried 
in  side  i^ockets  of  the  scabbard. 


136  ''Africa,"  vol.  ii,  pp.  9,  10,  107. 


136  Wood,  vol.  11,  p.  7(i0. 


Fio.  SI.  — Saber  of  Soudan,  Africa. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.      2G1 

Fig.  87  is  a  saber  brought  by  Capt.  Long  (Bey)  from  the  Soudan  Expedi- 
tion. It  has  a  boldly  curved  steel  blade  and  a  wooden  liandle.  The 
sheath  and  belt  are 
of  leather.  The  Nu- 
bian cimeter  is,  ]>er- 
hai)s,  even  a  little 
more  curved  tlian 
that  shown  from 
Soudan ;  but  doubt- 
less the  weapons  of 
a  distriet  vary,  and 
are  not  contined  rig- 
idly to  a  certain 
curve,  as  in  some 
countries  where 
such  things  are  de- 
lined  in  the  "liegu- 
lations."  The  curve 
in  each  case  is  much 
greater  than  that  of 
the  xo-i-:,  the  east- 
ern cimeter  of  classic  times.  The  Apongos  useacimeterof  similar  shape, 
and  with  a  handle  shaped  like  a  dice-box.  The  blade  is  4  feet  long.  Xo 
other  cimeter  of  Africa  has  so  peculiar  a  bend  as  the  sliotel  of  the  Abys- 
siuians.'"  The  blade  is  nearly  straight  for  two  feet,  and  then  suddenly 
makes  a  turn  of  about  sixty  degrees.  The  edge  is  on  the  concave  side, 
and  it  is  intended  that  the  point  shall  reach  over  the  top  of  an  enemy's 
shield.  The  blade  is  wider  and  heavier  toward  the  point.  It  is  of  soft 
iron,  has  a  rhinoceros-horn  handle,  and  is  swung  on  the  right  side. 

Among  the  most  curious  weapons  of  the  savage  world  are  the  hurling 
cimeters — if  they  may  be  so  called — the  tnimbashes  of  iha  Niam-niams.^^* 
The  tern)  is  from  Sennaar,  and  refers  generally  to  the  missile  weapons  of 
the  negroes.  The  irumhofih  of  the  Kiam-niams  {kuJbeda)  Fig.  L'G,  con- 
sists ordinarily  of  several  limbs  of  iron  with  jminted  prongs  and  sharp 
edges.  Somewhat  similar  implements  are  used  by  the  tribes  of  the  Tsad 
basin,  and  a  weapon  on  the  same  i)rinciplc  is  used  by  the  iVIarghy  and 
]\[usgoo.  The  Niam-niams  carry  them  attached  to  the  insides  of  their 
shields  ready  for  duty,  atid  hurl  them  with  great  rapidity,  force,  and 
accuracy.  They  are  ma<le  by  the  skillful  smiths  of  the  ^lonbutroo  tribe 
of  the  Welle  Iviver.  A  hurling  axe  shaped  like  a  sickle  is  also  used  by 
the  troops  of  the  scheik  of  Borneo.  It  is  known  as  a  liungamunga  and 
somewhat  resembles  the  trumhash  of  the  Niam-niams.  The  Tibboos, 
west  of  Xubia,  use  a  missile  sword,  as  do  also  the  Fans  of  Western  Africa. 
The  Fan  weapon  is  flat  and  pointed,  and  near  the  handle  is  a  sharp  pro- 
jection. 


13?  W6ofl,  vol.  i,  p.  718. 


■^'Schweiufurth's  "Africa,"  vol.  ii,  p.  10. 


2G2        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

The  Malays  aud  Dyaks  have  several  swords,  as  they  may  he  called, 
of  peculiar  character.  Three  of  them  are  cutting  weapons ;  the  other  is 
A  thrust.     The  three  former  nvti  parangs  ;  the  latter  is  the  Jcris. 


Fig.  88. — The  parang  of  the  Malays. 

The  parang™{Fig.  88 )  has  a  two-edged  blade  which  is  small  but  thick 
at  the  handle,  and  runs  broader  and  thinner  to  near  the  point.  It  is 
elaborately  ornamented  with  tufts  of  human  hair  and  charms.  The 
handle  is  frequently  of  deer  bone  neatly  carved,  but  in  the  present 
instance  is  of  wood  bound  with  red  leather  and  has  a  tuft  of  human 
hair  at  the  hilt.  The  scabbard  is  of  red  wood,  carved.  A  ratan-split- 
ting  knife'*"  occupies  a  pocket  in  a  small  sheath  attached  to  the  scab- 
bard of  the  parang.  This  attaching  of  a  knife  to  the  scabbard  is  also 
found  in  Scotland  and  Central  Africa.  The  parang-latoli  is  made  of  a 
square  bar  of  ^-inch  steel,  which  is  gradually  thinned  and  widened  until 
it  reaches  a  width  of  two  inches  near  the  point.  It  has  a  peculiar  bend 
of  SO"^  near  the  hilt.  It  is  sword,  machete,  axe,  all  in  one,  being  the 
ordinary  weapon  of  the  men  and  many  of  the  women.  It  is  kept  in  a 
wooden  sheath  made  of  two  pieces  of  wood  hoUowed  out  and  bound 
together  with  ratan.  It  is  the  executioner's  weaj)on.  The  para ng-ilila ng 
is  straight.  Its  blade  has  a  curious  shape,  being  ogee  in  cross-section. 
This  shape  seems  to  give  it  wonderful  execution  in  cutting,  but  at  the 
same  time  makes  it  dangerous  to  an  inexpert  swordsman,  as  the  blade 
glances  in  a  remarkable  manner.  The  beheading  sword  of  the  piratical 
Illaijos  '^'  has  a  somewhat  similar  curve.  The  holes  in  the  Illauoon  swor<l 
indicate  the  number  of  victims. 

The  most  characteristic,  however,  of  the  Malay  weapons  is  the  kris^'^^ 
(Fig.  89),  which  is  used  in  thrusting,  as  a  Spaniard  uses  his  knife.  The 
armorers  take  as  much  pride  in  the  making  of  the  weapon  as  of  old 
did  the  Toledo  or  Ferrara  workmen.  The  blade  is  generally  waving, 
and  its  grain  is  more  marked  than  in  any  other  weapon,  as  much  so  in 
faet  as  the  Damascus  gun-barrel,  and  for  the  same  reason,  as  it  is  made 
of  steel  and  iron  strips  laid  together,  twisted,  doubled,  and  variously  con- 
voluted to  give  the  kind  of  marking  required.  These  are  rendered  more 
plain  by  etching  the  blade  with  lime  juice,  the  acid  corroding  one  metal 

"9  Boyle's  '•'  Dyaks  of  Borneo,"  114, 115 ; 
Belcher's  "Eastern  Archipelago,"  ii,  133  and  plate. 

'«  Belcher's  "  Eastern  Archipelago,"  vol.  i,  pp.  230, 231.  i^"  Ibid,  vol.  i,  p.  266. 

'^-  Eaffles'  "Java,"  4to,  i,  p.  296  aud  plates  ;   Wallaces'  "  Malay." 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       2C3 


more  than  tlie  other,  and  hence  leaving  the  surface  grooved.  Tlie  exe- 
cution kris  is  also  used 
as  a  thrust  weapon,  the 
paraiifi-hitok  being  used 
for  beheading.  The  cul- 
prit or  victim,  as  the  case 
may  be,  sits  in  a  chair, 
and  his  extended  arms 
are  held  by  two  persons. 
The  executioner  stands 
behind  and  i)hu;es  the 
point  of  the  kris  just  by 
the  left  collar  bone,  and 

,    .,  .         ,  1  Fig.  80.— Mataji  krU. 

strikes      it     downward, 

piercing  the  heart.     If  he  be  fiistidious  he  jdaces  a  pledget  of  cotton 
wool  around  tlie  i)oint  of  the  Iris  before  thrusting  it  into  the  thorax, 

holds  it  there  tightly,  so  as  to  wipe  the 
WH'a])on  on  its  recovery,  thrusts  the  wool 
into  the  gap,  and  thus  avoids  shedding  a 
drop  of  blood. 

"  A  most  delicate  monster." 
It  may  be  added  that  the  kris  is  the 
most  cherished  possession  of  its  owner, 
and  may  be  worth  $20,  when  his  cloth- 
ing would  not  command  25  cents.  Some 
krisesare  heavily  inlaid  with  gold.  The 
sheath  is  of  wood  and  comparatively 
plain.  The  size  of  the  weapon  is  usually 
from  12  to  15  inches  long,  but  larger 
ones  are  to  be  seen.  Some  authorities 
have  told  us  that  the  handle  is  always 
bent  at  right  angles  to  the  blade.  In  the 
Javan  collection  of  the  Dutch  colonies  in 
the  Main  Building  the  handles  were  as 
represented  in  the  figure. 

Five  swords  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
are  represented  in  Fig.  90.  They  were 
in  the  Si)anish  Government  Building. 
The  resemblance  to  the  Malaysian  im- 
l)lements  is  very  marked;  a  is  evidently 
a  Av/.s"  y  h  is  a  parang;  c  is  a  parang- 
ihlang. 

The  Siamese  sword'"  used  from  ele- 

l)hant  back  has  a  handle  four  feet  long 

of  heavy  wood  and  a  screw  joint  in  the 

T^^,.wi.—SwordsofthcFhiUrpinf8.       middle  to  malcc  it  more  portable.     The 

'«  Ru3cheubcrger*s  "Voyage  Round  the  World,"  p.  295. 


264        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


blade  is  one-edj^ed,  two  feet  long-,  and  gently  curved.    The  guard  is 

a  disk  set  with  gems  and  the  scabbard  is  enameled. 
The  Chinese  use  single  swords,  sometimes  one  in  each  hand ;  they 
also  have  two-handed  swords."^  The  warrior  armed 
with  two  makes  them  fly  like  the  sails  of  a  windmill, 
he  leaping  and  dodging  the  while.  The  two-handed 
sword  is  of  the  same  length  and  weight  as  the  one 
exhibited  from  Norway.  The  Chinese  also  use  a  sword 
blade  on  the  end  of  a  pole.  The  practice  of  the 
Japanese  of  rank  in  carrying  two  swords  is  familiar 
from  the  many  illustrations  on  the  fans,  which  are 
so  good  and  cheap.  The  swords  are  known  as  l^en 
and  lattcn.  Some  of  the  old  Japanese  swords  have 
blood  lines."^ 

The  Norwegian  two-handed  sword  of  some  centu- 
ries since  was  shown  in  the  collection  from  that 
country  in  the  Main  Building.  It  has  a  whole  length 
of  5|  feet  and  a  hilt  15  inches  in  length.  It  has  two 
hand-holds  on  the  hilt  and  one  above  the  hilt,  proba- 
bly to  hold  it  when  used  as  a  pike. 
IV. — Spears. 

The  spear  is  found  among  most  savage  nations  and 
was  the  knightly  weapon  in  Europe  until  the  intro- 
duction of  fire-arms.  It,  however,  continued  in  use 
among  the  Poles,  Russians,  Turks,  and  Tartars,  and 
was  introduced  into  the  armies  of  Prussia  by  Fred- 
erick the  Great;  the  Austrians  followed,  calling  the 
troops  Uhlans,  and  lances  are  now  found  in  most  of 
the  European  cavalry  forces.  A  number  of  lances 
were  made  for  a  cavalry  regiment  in  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  but  the  project  was  abandoned  and  the 
lances  laid  away  in  the  arsenal  in  Washington. 

Perhaps  we  may  assume  that  the  first  spear  was  a 
sharpened  stick  or  pole ;  such  a  one  was  shown  in 
the  collection  from  the  Argentine  Eepublic,  a  round 
pole  a  little  larger  than  a  hayfork  handle,  of  dark  wood 
The  point  was  a  simple  taper  without  any  attempt  at 


Fig 


-Korwegian  two- 
handed  sword. 


and  10  feet  long, 
hastate  form. 

A  common  spear  of  Borneo  and  the  Philippines  is  a  sharpened  bam- 
boo, such  as  shown  at  a  h,  Fig.  92.  In  one  case  the  shaft  is  of  bamboo, 
and  in  the  other  a  bamboo  head  is  slipped  upon  a  cocoa-wood  shaft. 
The  end  is  so  sharpened  that  the  hard  silicious  skin  of  the  bamboo  forms 
the  edge  and  makes  a  very  efficient  cutting  and  piercing  weapon.  The 
spears  c  d  are  of  cocoa  wood.     The  head  of  c  has  an  ornament  resembling 

i^Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  814. 

"•'Siebold's  "NipiJon,"  ii,  plates  3,  5  bis,  12. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       265 


fi 


six  dimini.sbing  cars  of  corn  with  a  round  fmial  ])oint.  Similarly  orna- 
mented spear  heads  are  made  in  Fiji.  The  other  (d)  has  six  graduallj' 
decreasing  sets  of  barbs 
crowned  by  a  tinial.  Other 
spears  from  the  Philippines 
had  shark's  teeth  tacked  to 
ridges  on  the  head,  and  some 
had  metallic  heads.  They  will 
be  shown  presently. 

Ja<;or  nienti<nis  that  the 
spear  (^>/ca)  of  the  Phili[>pines 
is  of  caryota  wood  2.27"'  long ; 
the  head  of  bamboo,  carved 
wood,  or  iron  (purchased).'^" 

The  large  spear  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands '^^  is  12  or  15  feet 
long  and  is  not  barbed,  but 
the  hurling  spear  is  6  or  8  feet 
long,  of  hard  wood,  and  tapers 
toward  the  butt,  to  throw  the 
center  of  gravity  forward  of 
the  mid-length  and  enable  it 
to  Hy  straight. 

The  Fijians,  '^  who  excel  in 
ingenuity,  have  several  kinds 
of  spears.  The  fishing  spear 
has  three  oy  four  i)oints  set 
in  separately.  Each  point  has 
a  round,  scpuire,  or  semicircu- 
lar section,  is  dovetailed  into 
the  shaft  and  lashed  thereto 
with  sinnet.  The  war  spear 
has  a  carved  head,  and  barbs, 
either  cut  in  the  wood,  or 
made  of  the  tfiil  of  the  sting- 
ray and  set  in  separately ; 
these  brittle  barbs  conie  off 
in  the  wound  and  insure  cruel 
sulfering  and  generally  death. 
One  Fijian  si)ear  is  made  of 
a  wood  which  bursts  when 
moist,  so  that  it  is  with  difti- 
cnlty  extracted.  The  dilVer- 
ent  islands,  such  as  the  Tonga, 
Herveys,  Fiji,  and  the  New  Hebrides  have  distinguishable  varieties  of 
spears. 

'■Mi "  Philippines,"  p.  210.      »«  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  434.      »«  Williams  "  Fiji,"  pp.  44-5. 


Fig.  92.— Spears  of  the  Philippines. 


266        SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


The  Australian  sj^ears  are  of  various  qualities  and  sliai)es :  a  sharp- 
ened stick  {nanduin)  Avith  notches  for  barbs;  '"  a  spear  with  a  separate 
liead  of  hard  miaU  wood  decjjly  cut  with  barbs,  and  fastened  to  a  reed 
{phra<;mefcs  communix)  sliaft;  "^"  one  with  a  basalt  or  quartzite  head 
lashed  to  the  shaft  with  sinews  from  the  tail  of  the  kangaroo,'^'  with 
long  in-ojectinji"  barbs  on  each  side,  curiously  formed  from  hard  wood,'^^ 
a  single  bone  lashed  tJ  the  head  and  projecting  laterally  and  back- 
wardly  from  the  point  so  as  to  form  a  barb  ;  the  mongile,  a  head  armed 
with  sharp  basalt  or  quartzite  flakes  set  with  pid-jer-ong  gum  ;  '^'  one  with 
a  head  piece  of  bone  which  is  lashed  to  the  shaft  so  that  its  respective 
ends  form  point  and  barb ;  ^^*  lastly,  leisters  with  from  two  to  four  barbed 
points,'^*  and  from  6  to  15  feet  long. 

The  flower  stalk  of  the  grass-tree  furnishes  the  spear-shaft,  which  is 
9  or  10  feet  long.  Fig.  93  shows  two  South  Australian  spears,  one 
with  a  double  set  of  inserted  barbs  made  of  obsidian  or 
quartz,  and  a  kangaroo  spear  with  a  wooden  head  30 
inches  long,  and  a  single  row  of  barbs; 
the  shaft  is  8  feet  long.  Fig.  94 
shows  two  fish- spears,  one  with  two 
prongs  and  the  other  with  three. 
The  prongs  of  hard  and  tough  gum- 
tree  wood  are  tai^ered  towards  each 
end,  iDointed,  and  barbed  ;  their  butt- 
ends  are  then  inserted  in  notches  on 
the  end  of  the  shaft  and  held  in  po- 
sition by  black-boy  gum,  while  the 
prongs  are  spread  apart  by  wedges 
driven  between  them.  The  j^rongs 
are  then  lashed  with  sinews.  The 
Australian  has  a  blade  on  the  end 
of  his  spear  to  act  as  a  paddle  as  he 
stands  in  his  dug-out  canoe  and 
watches  the  water  or  quietly  moves 
from  place  to  place.     The  night  is 

Fig.  93.— Australian  the  faVOrite  time  for   fish- spearing,  a  Fig. Qi.—AuftraUanv'ooden 
wooden  spears.        j-        ^     •  i  i      i      j?         j.  i       fishing-spears  (leisters.) 

^  fire  being  made  on  a  bed  of  wet  sand 

and  stones  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe.  The  natives  also  carry  torches 
of  inflammable  bark ;  this  mode  of  fishing  is  common  in  North  America 
and  in  Scotland,  called  "  burning  the  water"  in  the  former,  and  "  leis- 
tering "  in  the  latter. 

'^'■•K.  Brougli  Smith,  "Aborigines  of  Victoria,"  vol.  i,  p.  304,  Fig.  71-74. 
'«« Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  305,  Figs.  75,  76. 
15'  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  308,  Fig.  85. 

'^-Ibid.,  vol.  i,  Figs.  pp.  69,  70,  and  i,  308,  Fig.  84. 
^^Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  304,  Fig.  68,  audi,  330,  Fig.  141. 
^^*Ibid.,  vol,  i,  p.  306,  Fig.  77,  78. 

^^"•Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  306,  Figs.  79,  80,  p.  337,  Fig.  144  tf  al.  See  also  PI.  iv,  and  pp.  33-5 
Nilson's  "  Stone  Ajre." 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        267 


The  large  spear  of  the  Australian,  not  to  be  thrown  but  used  as  a 
pike,  is  as  much  as  13  feet  in  length,  the  liead  of  hard  wood,  the  shaft 
of  lighter  wood,  and  as  large  as  the  wrist.  Th(3  Australians  also  use  a 
forked  spear,  hobo,  to  secure  eels  and  snakes  alive.''"'  Tlie  turtle  liar- 
poon,  like  the  hippopotanuis  hari»oon  of  Africa,  has  a  head  detachaVtle 
from  the  shalt.  To  the  head  is  attached  a  rope,  on  the. other  end  of  which 
is  a  buoy.  The  har[»()on  i'ov  tlie  dugoiig  lias  a  bone  head  1  inches  long 
and  covered  with  barbs.  It  becomes  detached  from  the  shaft  after  strik- 
ing ;  the  cord  attached  to  the  spear-head  has  no  float,  but  is  secured  on 
board  the  canoe.  The  simplest  form  of  fishspear  is  a  long  sharp  stick 
used  in  gigging  tish  in  water-holes.'" 

The  spears  in  the  ITew  Zealand  department  were  all  of  wood.  Some 
were  simi)ly  i)ointed  i)oles  of  hard  wood;  otheis  had  carved  heads  with 
pyramidal  points.  The  spear  is  not  a  favorite  weapon 
of  the  Maoris ;  in  fact  is  said  to  have  been  laid  aside. 
The  heads  of  the  spears  are  understood  to  be  a  conven- 
tional representation  of  the  human  tongue  thrust  out. 
That  shown  in  Fig.  95  is  destitute  of  ornament ;  Fig. 
90,  called  by  the  natives  taiaha  lucra,  has 
suspended  tufts  of  dyed  hair. 

The  styles  of  ornamentation  peculiar  to 
New  Zealand,  Kew  Guinea,  and  Fiji  are  re- 
ferred to  by  11.  Brough  Smith.'"* 

The  harpoon  of  the  Ant^aman  Islander''^ 
is  shot  from  a  bow,  and  has  a  detachable 
head  with  a  connected  cord,  which  is  held 
.  by  the  archer. 

The  spears  already  considered  are  made 
of  wood,  although  the  use  of  the  tail  of  the 
sting-ray  by  the  Fijians  and  of  bone  and  ob- 
sidian by  the  Australians  have  been  incident- 
ally mentioned.  Materials  in  great  variety 
have  been  used  for  the  heads  or  barbs  of 
spears. 

Stone  spear-heads  were  shown  in  the  South 
Australian  dei)artinent.  They  were  obtained 
Fig.  sry.-Maori  ^'oui  the  northern  i):irt  of  the  island  near  fk;. !)G._7f«»n>;.car 
wooden  spear.  Melville's  Ishiud.  They  are  genuine  sp.eci-  taiaha  kw,a. 
mens  of  the  stone  age,  which  dt»es  not  represent  a  spe(;ific  time  but  a 
grade  of  civilization.  Consideration  must  also  be  had  to  the  al)sence  of 
metals  in  some  localities.  The  stone  spear-heads  are  chii)ped  to  shape 
and  lashed  to  reed  shafts  with  sinews,  or  with  fiber  obtained  from 
roots.     The  reeds  are  0  feet  long  and  the  heads  from  4  to  0  inches. 

The  spears  of  the  Solomon  Islanders  aretipi)ed  with  sharp  Hints;  those 
of  the  Admiralty  Islanders  are  of  obsidian  lashed  to  the  shall  and  coated 


"*  Aborigines  of  Victoria,  vol.  i,  p.  307,  Fijj.  82. 
^"^Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  29G,  297. 


^^■>  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  307,  Fig.  81. 
»«»Mouat  "Amlamau,"  p.  326. 


268        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL   EXHIBITION. 


-Stone  spear-heads,  South  Aus- 
tralia. 


with  gnm.  The  Mexican  spears  were  pointed  with  obsidian.  The  ob- 
sidian spear-heads  of  the  rai)aans  excited  the  surprise  of  Schouten,  an 

early  navigator  in  those  seas;  he  remarks 
that  they  had  "long  staves  with  very  long, 
sharp  things  at  the  ends  thereof,  which,  as 
we  thonght,  were  linnes  of  black  fishes.""* 
The  aborigines  of  the  Canaries,  a  race  of  Af- 
rican origin,  when  first  discovered,  used 
hatchets,  knives,  lancets,  and  spear  heads 
of  obsidian,  and  axes  of  green  jasper. 

The  lances  fonnd  in  the  npper  strata  dur- 
ing the  excavations  at  Hissarlik '®'  were  of  a 
very  hard  black  or  green  stone.  The  spear 
of  the  ISorthern  American  Indian  was  for- 
merly of  stone  or  flint,  but  is  now  of  steel.'®'' 
We  may  refer  in  a  single  group  to 
those  spears  which  are  tipped  with  animal 
material,  bone,  horn,  shell,  shark's  teeth, 
claws  of  beasts  and  birds  (such  as  of  the  kangaroo,  cassowary,  or 
emu),  and  the  tail  of  the  sting-ray.  In  the  times  of  Her- 
odotus and  Strabo,  African  spears  were  headed  with  the 
sharpened  horns  of  antelopes,'*'^  and  the  jjractice  still  ob- 
tains, i*^*  The 
Canary  Isl- 
anders, when 
discovered,  in 
the  fourteenth 
century,  had 
spears  and 
digging-sticks 
tipped  with 
horns.'*^^  ^  _   , 

Fig.  9i>.  — Wooden 
Fig.  98  shows    fi-^h-^pear.     Ma- 
T>  I.JIII/-.7J  .  ^^      .     -       ^■''''*'  'if   British 

-Bone  spear-heads  and  hook,  Greenland.  ^  ^y  q      Xv  aj  ii  k     Columbia. 

spear-heads  and  a  hook  of  bone,  exhibited  in  the  Greenland  section  of 
the  Danish  department.  The  upper  one  is  cut  down  so  as  to  leave  barbs. 
The  next  beneath  it  has  an  iron  tip  riveted  to  the  bone.  The  lower  ex- 
ample is  a  bone  hook  abo^t  2  inches  across.  Barbed  harpoons  of  bone, 
from  a  Scanian  bog,  Sweden,  from  a  ctive  in  Perigord,  and  from  Terra 
del  Fuego,  are  shown  in  Nilson's  "Stone  Age."""^ 

iGopurchas,  vol.i,  p.  95. 

"'1  "  Scliliemann's  Troy,  &c.,"  p.  79. 

163  Dr.  Abbott  in  Smithsonian  Report,  1875,  pp.  269,  274. 

163  Herod.,  vii,  69-71.     Strabo,  xvl,  4,  9,  11. 

16^  Andersson,  p.  15. 

165  Tylor,  p.  222,  and  note  passim. 

i66piate  iv,  Figs.  69,  70,  72. 


Tig. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT   THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


269 


Fig.  99  is  a  fish-spear  head  of  wood  with  incurved  i)oiiits  or  barbs  of 
bone;  the  binding  is  of  cherry  bark.    These  liooks  are 
used  by  the  Makalis  and  other  Northwestern  Indians. 

Fig.  100  is  a  fish-spear  of  the  Choolcchees  (  T.s'c7j  ucJdochies) 
of  Kortheast  Siberia.  It  has  a  long  stout  shaft  of  i)inc 
wood,  only  one-half  the  length  of  which  is  shown.  The 
head  consists  of  two  baleen  prongs,  on  the  ends  of  which 
are  lashed  two  incurved  points  of  ivory,  forming  barbs. 
The  same  style  of  fish-spear  is  used  by  the  Youcou  In- 
dians of  the  IMackeuzie  Kiver  country.'"'  The  Fuegan 
fishing-spear  is  10  feet  long  and  has  an  octagonal  shaft 
with  a  bone  head  7  inches  iu  length,  with  a  single  barb. 

The  National  Museum  in  the  (lovernment  Building 
had  specimens  of  whale  and  seal  lances  from  (Siberia, 
Alaska,  and  Greenland. 

Fig.  101  is  a  seal-spear  from  the  Chookchees  of  North- 
east Siberia.  It  has  a  long  spliced  pine-wood  handle 
and  movable  point  of  bone  with  a  metallic  tip. 

Harpoons  with  movable'^'  and  immovable  points'^"  are 
shown  in  SvenNilson's  "  Stone  Age,"  edited  by  Sir  John 
Lubbock. 

Fig.  102  is  a  whaling-lance  from  the  Ponook  Eskimo  of 
Alaska.  It  is  pointed  with  a  portion  of  a  marrow-bone 
cut  off  obliquely  so  as  to  afford  a  long  cutting-edge.  The 
butt-end  has  a  flattened  piece  to  fit  the  throwing-board. 


which  will  be  shown  presently, 
spur  or  button  to  prevent  the  s 
too  far.    The  Ostiaks,  Chookchees,  and  Keriaks  secure  the  same  end 


The  piece  on  the  side  is  a  rio.  loo.— c/iootc/iw 

.  ,  ,      ,         Jis/inpear,  Siberia. 

spur  or  button  to  prevent  the  spear  penetrating  the  whale 


Fk;.  101. — Seal-spcar  of  the  Chookchees,  Nortlieast  Siberia. 

by  binding  the  shaft  with  raw  sea-lion  hide,  which,  drying,  forms  an  im- 


i^^'  -''- ^■'-C-1-i..^  — --^—  - .- ■- ■- .- .-— — x^ — '11 


PS^g??^«?g!88Sa«g?a?^>:ll  m<m^<f^^^4^^^^^^^^^^e^-^S9^ 


Fio.  \^2.—yn\alinglai\ce  of  Alaska  Eskimo. 

movable  ridge.    Fig.  103  is  a  whaling-lance  of  the*  Greenland  Eskimo. 

»6^SIllith.soIli:ln  Report  for  IHCe,  p.  324. 

168  <•  Stone  Ago,''  Plate  iii,  Figs.  r)2,  53  (for  Madder  spears). 

109 Xiid.  Plate  iii,  41,  50,  51 ;  Plato  iv,  G9,  72  (bone  tips  aud  bone  tipped  with  stone). 


270       SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL   EXHIBITION. 


It  has  an  iron  snow-rest  at  the  end  of  the  wooden  stoclv ;  the  shaft  is  of 
iron  and  has  a  walrns-ivory  jioiut,  which  comes  free  of 
the  shaft  when  the   wliah',  is  struck.     The  shaft  is 
dragged  by  the  whale,  and  a  float  may  be  secured  to 
the  end  of  the  thong.    The  thongs  for  the  Eskimo  liar- 

poons  are  made  from  the  skins  of  a 

hirge  species  of  seah     Incisions   six 

inches   apart   are  made    completely 

around  the  body  and  the  rings  of  hide 

removed  like  so  many  hoops.     These 

are  then  cut  spirally  into  thongs  of 

a  length  equal  to  the  circumference 

of  the  body  at  the  part  multiplied  by 

the  number  of  times  the  width  of  the 

thongs  goes  into  6  inches.     Fig.  104 

is  another  whaling-lance  o^the  Green- 
land Eskimo.     It  has  a  long  bone  rod 

for    the    attachment    of   the    mova- 
ble head  which  comes  entirely  free 

of  the  shaft,  but  is  held  by  the  thong. 

The   shaft  has    a  snow-rest   at   the 

butt. 

The  Makah  Indians  of  the  North- 
west Coast  use  a  lance  and  seal-skin 

buoj^  in  capturing  the  great  bow-head 

whales  of  the  Pacific.     Fig.  105  shows 

the  buoy,  rope,  and  lance-head.     The 

head  is  placed  on  the  end  of  a  long 

forked  jiole  and  comes  oft'  the  shaft 

after  the  whale  is  struck.     The  buoy 

is  made  of  a  seal-skin  stripped  ofi'  en- 
tire, sown  uf)  at  the  ends, 
and  inflated.  The  lance- 
head  is  of  shell  witb  wal- 
rus-ivory barbs  and  jioint 
secured  with  sinews  and 
pitch.  The  rope  is  of 
spruce  root  roasted  in  the 
ashes,  pounded,  frayed, 
and  twisted.  Fig.  lOG 
shows  the  seal  and  fish- 
spear  of  the  Eskimo  of  Ko- 
diak,  Alaska.  It  has  a 
long  slender  ornamented 
shaft  and  movable  barbed  yig.  io4. 
point.  The  shaft  has  a 
bladder  float  and  an  ivory  knob  to  limit  the  penetration  of  the  spear 


Fig.  103.— Whaling-lance,  Greenland. 


Whaling-lance 
of  Greenland  Eskimo. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHiniTION.        271 


The  bird  spear  of  tlic  GnHMiIaiid  Eskimo  lias,  besides  its  niaiu  i)oiiit, 
several  supplementary  points  at  some  distance  from  the  end  of  the  spear. 
It  has  an  inflated  bladder  to  preveut  its  sinking  in  the  water. 

A  nund)er  of  dif- 
ferent Polynesian 
weapons  are  made 
with  shark's  teeth 
lashed  to  wooden 
olnbs   or   lances. 

l''i"'.  107  is  a   Sl)ear-  Fir..  105. — Lance-head  and  seal  buoy,  British  Cnlumhia. 

head  exhibited  in  the  Philippine  Islands  section  of  the  Spanish  dei)artmeut. 
The  Kinj:rsmilland  Marquesas  Islanders  also  arm  tlieedges  of  their  spears 
with  sharks'  teeth,  l)inding  them  to  the  shaft  with  sinnet,  the  iilaited  tiber 
{coir)  of  the  cocoa-nut.  One  from  the  Kingsmill  Islands  has  over  200 
teeth  in  a  row,  the  shaft  being  of  light  wood  and  15  feet  long.  A  spear 
from  the  Philippines  had  72  teeth  in  a  row.  A  saw  is  made  on  the  same 
principle  by  the  Australians ;  Hakes  of  obsidian  or  quartz,  about  the 
size  of  a  quarter-dollar,  are  inserted  in  a  grooved  stick  of  gum-tree  wood 
and  fiistened  by  gum  fiom  the  grass-tree,  commonly  known  as  "black- 


FiG.  106.— Seal  and  fish  spear,  Kodiak  Eskimo,  Alaska. 

boy '' gum.'""  Javelins  of  bone  or  wood  with  longitudinal  grooves,  in 
which  are  inserted  flint  flakes,  are  shown  by  Nilson.'"' 

The  spear  of  the  Tonga  Islands  is  barbed  with  the  tail  bone  of  the 
sting-ray;  the  same  bone  is  used  on  the  i)rongs  of  the  Tahitian  trident. 
The  barbs  are  not  fastened,  but  are  slipped  into  sockets  just  tight  enough 
to  hold  them  until  they  are  thrust  into  the  body,  wh(?n  they  become  de- 
tached and,  from  their  barbed  character,  work  deeper  and  deeper  into 
the  wound. 

We  have  considered  wooden  spears,  and  those  with  stone  and  bone 
lunuls,  and  incidentally  some  other  materials.  "We  now  come  to  metal, 
the  material  of  all  the  best,  and  which,  once  adopted,  is  not  again  laid 
aside. 

Spear-heads  of  cojtper  were  shown  among  the  Indian  implements 
from  Wisconsin.  Copper  preceded  iron,  being  found  nalixc  and  mal- 
leable. Copper  and  bronze  implements  are  among  the  articles  recov- 
ered from  the  Egyptian  tombs,  the  tunndi  of  Assyria,  and  the  excava- 


"0  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  35. 


"1  "  Stouo  Age,"  pi.  vi,  Figa.  124,  5,  6. 


272        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


t.ions  of  Ilissarlik.'"  The  spears  of  the  Peruvians'"^  were  tipped  with 
copper  or  boue,  and  those  of  the  Inca  lords  mounted 
with  gold  and  silver. 

The  Philippine  Islands  were  represented  in  the  Spanish 
Government  building,  and  had  a  sheaf  of  spears,  among 
?>  which  were  the  iron  weapons.  Fig.  108.  One  of  these  has 
a  sword-blade,  and  a  number  of  ferrules  to  prevent  the 
tang  from  splitting  the  shaft.  Another  spear  has  two 
barbs,  and  a  third  one  has  a  lanceolate  head.  The  trident, 
Fig.  110,  was  also  shown  in  the  same  collection.  The 
mora,  or  crossbar,  to  limit  the  penetration  of  the  spears, 
shown  in  the  Eoman  venahulum  or  hog  spear,  does  not 
seem  to  be  in  common 
nse  in  the  Orient.  The 
Japanese  have  as  many 
as  14  kinds  of  spears,  '^* 
perhaps  more. 

Fig.  109  is  a  three- 
pointed  spear  from  Timor, 
shown  in  the  collection 
from  the  Portuguese  col- 
onies. It  has  three  sim- 
ple points,  the  outer  ones 
being  on  the  ends  of  a 
cross-bar  slipped  over  the 
middle  prong  and  bent 
forward.  The  Philip- 
pine trident.  Fig.  110,  is 
used  for  fishing,  but  the  II- 
laiioon  pirates''*  use  a 
bifurcated  spear  with  re- 
treating barbs  to  catch 
men  by  the  neck.  The 
three -pointed  spear  is 
found  in  many  widely  sep- 
arated parts  of  the  world, 
and  is  mentioned  in  the 
history  of  the  Saracen 
conquests,  i^articularly  in 
one  of  the  feats  of  Ali. 
Fig.    Ill     shows    three 

Fig.  Wi.  — Shark's-  «   , ,         ^  i        i       ^ 

tooth  spear  of  the  spcars  of  the   Island  of 


4- 

4- 

4 

4 

4 

4^; 


4<^ 
4- 
4 


m 


# 


Philippines. 


Fio.  108.  — Iron  spear-heads  of  the  Philippines. 


Timor.     They  show  the 
same  tendency  as  to  shape  as  the  halberds  and  lances  of  the  middle 


m  «  xroy  and  its  Remains,"  p.  330.     i^s  u  Conquest  of  Peru,"  vol.  i,  p.  73. 

"■•  Siebold's  " Nippon,"  vol. ii,  jil.  G.     '^^  Belcher's  "Eastern  Archipelago,"  vol.  i,  p. 252. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CEXTEXXIAL    EXHIBITION. 


273 


^> 


ages.    Tlie  weapons  of  Timor  and  of  the  Philippiues  are  very  similar,  as 
miglithave  been  anticipated. 

The  African  spears  show  a  great  variety.  Over  the  hirge  portion  of 
the  continent  iron  is  eitlier 
j)lentil'al  or  readily  accessi- 
ble by  means  of  the  native 
traders.  The  nietallnr^ic 
process  is  a.  direct  one  iVom 
tlie  ore  and  tlie  prodnct  is 
a  steel.  \Vei,i;lits,  s]ia])es, 
and  sizes  of  the  weapons  dif- 
fer greatly.  The  Bongos  of 
the  l^pper  Nile '"''"  are  skillful  rm.  wo.-Tridem  of  Timor. 

blacksmiths  and  make  excellent  lances,  especially  considering  the  crude 

character  of  their  tools. 
The  spears  of  the  Niam- 
niams  and  ]Monbuttoos'" 
are  of  a  hastate  shape,  and 
their  weai)ons  all  have 
Fic.  m.-Trident  of  the  rhiiippines.  blood  groovcs,  which   dis- 

tinguishes tliem  from  the  weapons  of  the  Bongo  and  Mittoo.  TheMan- 
gauji  spear ''"■*  is  sometimes  made  with 
a  paddle  or  dibble  at  the  end  of  the 
handle,  and  is  weighted  with  iron  rings. 
The  spear  of  the  Kanemboo  infantry 
soldier  of  Borneo  is  7  feet  in  length, 
and  armed  below  the  head  with  a  num- 
ber of  hook-shaped  barbs.  The  Abys- 
sinian spear  is  seven  feet  long  and  has 
four  grooved  sides.  It  is  nsed  either 
as  a  pike  or  a  Javelin.  The  natives 
have  also  a  way  of  throwing  it  at  close 
quarters  by  letting  the  shaft  pass 
through  the  hand  and  catching  the 
butt-end.  The  bark  of  a  young  tree 
being  removed,  the  wood  is  seasoned 
by  fire,  greased,  then  hung  in  the  sun 
to  obtain  the  desired  color. 

The  hippopotamus  spear  of  the  Zam- 
besi''" is  a  beam  four  or  five  feet  long 
armed  with  a  spear-head  or  hard-wood 
spike  covered  with  poison.     The  spear 


Spears  of  Timor. 


is  suspended  from  a  forked  pole  by  a  cord,  which,  coming  down  closo 

'"'  Schweiiifiirth's  "Africa,"  vol.  i,  p.  2b0. 
'"  H)hL,  vol.  ii,  ]).  27. 
'""  Livingstone's  "  Zambesi,"  p.  532. 

"« Livingstone's  Zambesi,  p.  107;  Baker's  Ismailia,  PI.  opp.,  p.  135. 
S.  Mis.  54 1» 


274       SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 

to  the  path  frequented  by  the  animals,  is  liehl  by  a  catch  and  is  set 
free  when  the  animal  treads  upon  it.  The  Banyai  of  the  Zambesi  have 
a  hii)popotamus  spear  with  a  wooden  shaft,  iron  head,  and  weighted  with 
stones ;  like  the  former,  it  is  suspended  over  the  track  of  the  animals. 
The  Fans  of  the  Gaboon  have  a  similar  contrivance.  The  Dor  tribe  pre- 
pares a  similar  spear,  but  the  hunter  climbs  a  tree  and  drops  it  upon  an 
elei)hant  i)assinj?  beneath.    The  elephant  si)ear  of  Unyoro  is  similar. 

The  hipi)oi)otamus  harpoon  of  the  Zambesi'-"  has  an  iron  head  inserted 
in  the  end  of  a  long  i)ole  of  light  wood.  The  head  has  a  stout  barb  and 
becomes  detached  from  tlie  shaft ;  the  rope  attached  to  the  head  unreels 
from  the  shaft,  and  when  it  has  all  run  out  the  shaft  acts  as  a  lloat  to 
indicate  the  locality  of  the  animal.  An  inflated  bladder  is  sometimes 
used  as  a  float.  The  rope  is  made  from  the  bark  of  the  milola,  an  umbra- 
geous hibiscus.  The  Ilamram  Arabs  use  a  float  of  ambatch,  an  extremely 
light  wood.  The  Makobahs  of  Lake  l^fgami'®'  attach  the  rope  to  the 
head  by  a  large  bunch  of  loose  strands,  which  cannot  be  cut  clean  off 
by  the  teeth  of  the  animal.  A  rope  of  palm  leaf  is  attached  to  the  shaft, 
and  is  coiled  up  in  the  boat. 

The  turtle-spear  of  the  Central  American  Indians  is  a  heavy  palm-wood 
stafl"  with  a  notched  iron  peg  at  the  end,  and  twenty  fathoms  of  silk- 
grass  line  attached. 

The  assegai,  the  hurling  spear  or  javelin  of  the  Kafirs,  was  shown  in 
the  Cajje  of  Good  Hope  collection.     It  is  a  very  formidable  weapon  in 


1-?////^  y/^yy/  yy^y^  ^yyy/^y  v>^  ^  A^i,u,wJA\^SAV-SW\WV 
Pig.  112. — Eajir  assef/ais. 

the  hands  of  this  athletic  and  untamed  people.  The  people  of  "  the 
Cape"  say  that  the  Kafirs  are  the  remains  of  the  lost  "  ten  tribes  of 
Israel,"  and  have  fought  their  way  all  down  through  Africa.  Their  asse- 
gais are  made  from  native  iron,  have,  wooden  shafts,  and  are  decorated 
with  tufts  of  cow  hair.  The  blade  has  various  symmetrical  lanceolate 
shapes.  A  ridge  passes  along  the  center  of  the  blade,  which  is  concave  on 
one  side,  convex  on  the  other.  This  sha])e  is  intended  to  give  rotation  to 
the  weapon.  The  head  of  the  assegai  is  about  the  size  of  the  blade  of 
a  table-knife,  and  has  a  tang  which  is  inserted  by  burning  it  while  red- 
hot  into  a  shaft  of  assegai  wood  {Curfisia  jaffinea),  which  resembles 
mahogany.  The  two  parts  are  secured  by  lashings  of  raw  hide,  which 
contracts  in  drying  and  holds  all  firmly.  The  assegai  is  the  main  weapon 
of  the  Kafir,  and  with  it  he  kills  his  cattle,  skins  them,  and  cuts  them 
up ;  with,  it  he  also  carves  his  clubs,  spoons,  dishes,  pillows,  and  niilk- 

•'8oLivingstone'.fl  Zambesi,  p.  44.  i»i  Wood,  vol.  i,  p.  379. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


275 


pots,  and  sliave.s  liis  bead — or  rather  that  of  his  friend. 
His  other  weapon  is  a  cUib ;  he  does  not  use  the  bow  and 
arrow. 

The  liechuana  a.s',sr///^n.s'"'^  have  cruel  barbs  on  tlieir  sliafts, 
being  orij^inally  for<;ed  scpiare  and  the  barbs  made  by  cut- 
ting- and  raising  the  corners. .  The  (tfsscffui  of  the  Damaras  has 

a  broad,  Icaf-sliajx'd,  soft-iron  bhuh'. 

a  foot  in  length j  it  has  a  strong  han- 

F...    U3.-Copper   han><>on  point,  '^^^J  ^^  ^hlch  is  a  tlowiug  OX-tail. 

^^"xkn-  The  speiir  of  tlie  (Jran  (Miaco  In- 

dian of  LaPhita  is  1.")  feet  h)ng;  it  is  his  princii>al  war  weapon, 
and  is  also  used  as  a  vaulting-i)ole  in  mounting  his  horse.  The 
Fuegain  thro  wing-spear  is  shorter  and  has  a  row  of  barbs  down 
cue  sides 
The  harpoon-point  of  native  copper,  with  unilateral  barbs,  is 
shown  in  Fig.  113.  It  is  from  the  Atnacs  of  Cop- 
per Kiver,  Alaska.  The  harixjon  used  l)y  tlie  Alits 
of  Vancouver's  Island  in  whale-fishing  has  a  yew 
handle  ten  feet  long,  on  the  end  of  which  is  a  de- 
tachable iron  barbed  blade;  it  has  a  line  of  deer 
sinews  connecting  with  the  main  cord  of  cedar- 
bark  twine  laid  up  into  a  rope  and  having  a  num- 
ber of  inflated  seal  skins  attached. 

The  tish-spear  of  the  Frobisher  l>ay  Eskimo, 
Fig.  114,  has  a  jwint  of  iron,  and  incurved  barbs 
made  from  sharpened  nails  set  in  flexible  bone 
]trongs,  which  are  lashed  to  the  short  pine-wood 

handle.  Fig.  115  is  the 
salmon  spear  of  the  Pas- 
sama(]Uod(ly  Indians.  It 
has  a  long  stout  shaft, 
wooden  prongs,  and  iron 
point. 

Norway  sent  some  rel- 
ics of  the  past,  the  hal- 
berds and  lances.  Fig. 
IK). 

Throwing -sticks  are 
used  in  many  i)arts  of 
the  \M)rld  to  increase  the 
power  of  flight  of  the 
s])('ar  by  extending  the 
radius  of  the  arm  in 
throwiiig.  The  throw- 
TiG.  116.— Norwegian  haiberd«.  stick  of  the  Australians, 


Fig.  lU.  —  Fhh- 
spear.  Fruhinhrr 
Bay  Eskimo. 


"2  Wood,  vol.  i,  p.  314. 


276        SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


f 


called  by  tliem  ^yummerah^'^^  mkllah,  meera,  JcuricuJc,  is  a  stick""  about 
three  feet  long.  The  spear  lies  along  the  arm  and  the  stick,  its  rear 
end  being  against  the  prong  on  the  outer  end  of  the 
latter.  The  butt  of  the  si)ear  has  a  socket  for  the 
tooth  ou  the  end  of  the  stick.  This  is  sometimes  a 
tooth  of  a  kangaroo ;  in  other  cases  of  bone  or  of 
wood.  The  fonii  of  the  icnmmcrdh  varies  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  island,  being  sometimes  a  mere  stick 
Avith  a  swelled  hand-hold  at  one  end 
and  the  prong  at  the  other.  Other  spec- 
imens show  flat  boards,  leaf-shaped  or 
tapering.  Itisof  hard  and  elastic  wood, 
and  heavy  enough  to  be  used  as  a  club 
at  close  quarters.  The  spear  is  quiv- 
ered like  the  Kafir  assegai  in  throwing, 
and  undulates  like  a  thin  black  snake 
in  its  passage  through  the  air.  It  is 
also  thrown  underhand,  skimming  and 
ricocheting  on  the  ground.  Figs.  117 
and  118  are  throwing-sticks  of  South 
Australia  and  Victoria,  shown  in  the 
Main  Building. 

Fig.  119  shows  the  way  of  using  it. 
The  plan  reminds  one  of  the  Span- 
ish method  of  knife-throwing,  in  which 
the  fore-arm  and  hand  are  used  as  the 
l^rojector,  the  knife  lying  in  the  hand, 
which  is  extended  palm  upward. 

Although  the  plan  of  bending  the 
spears  in  throwing  does  not  appear  to 
be  universal  in  Australia,  it  is  some- 
times adopted  to  increase  the  force  of 
the  projection.  The  Pelew  Islanders 
use  a  throwing-stick  about  two  feet 
long  to  hold  the  butt  of  the  spear,  which, 
in  throwing,  is  bent  by  the  left  hand 
until  it  is  nearly  double.  The  spear  is 
released  by  the  left  hand  simultaneously 
sticks,  South  Australia.'  ^'\x\x  the  swccping  motion  of  the  right 
hand  and  arm.  The  Purupurus  of  the  Amazon,^**^  unlike  all  the  other 
tribes  of  the  region,  have  neither  blow^un  nor  bow,  but  project  their 
arrows  by  means  of  a  throwing-stick  {palhcta).  Like  the  Australian 
and  American  implements  it  has  a  projection  at  the  end  to  hold  the 

'^•'' Baekhouses's  "Australia,"  p.  433. 

»^^R.  Brough  Smith,  "Aborigines  of  Victoria,"  vol.  i,  pp.  308,  309,  Figs.  88-93,  and 
p.  338,  Figs.  146,  147. 
1S3  Wallace's  "Amazon,"  p.  514. 


Fig.    117. — Spear-throwing 


Fig.  l\%.— Throw- 
ing-stick of  Vic- 
toria, Australia. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       277 


butt  of  tlie  arrow.  The  middle  of  the  arrow  and  tlie  handle  of  the  i)oJ- 
hvta  arc  held  in  the  right  hand,  and  the  arrow  is  projected  as  ironi  a 
sling.     The  natives  are  very  skillful  with  it. 

The  throwing-boards  used  by  the  Northwestern  Eskimo  and  Indians 
are  shown  in  Fig.  ll'O. 
They  resemble  the 
spear-casters  [xuiotln- 
tU)  used  by  the  Aztecs 
at  the  time  of  the  Span- 
ish    COiniUest.      On    the  Tia.UQ.—Amtraliaa  throwingsUck. 

mural  luunumenls  of  Mexico  the  gods  are  generally  represented  as  using 
the  stick  to  throw  the  javelin.  The  Mexican  stick  most  resembles  the 
upper  one  in  Fig.  118.  Some  other  Eskimo  throwing-sticks  have  pro- 
jections against  which  the  butt  of  the  spear  is  jdaced;  and  others  (see 
the  lower  in  the  figure)  have  holes  for  the  tail  end  of  the  spear. 

The  llomans  used  the  amentum  {cf.  hahcna),  a  thong  fastened  at  the 
center  of  gravity  of  the  javelin  to  hurl  the  weapon.  It  is  mentioned  by 
Livy  and  Ovid.  By  giving  the  thong  a  few  turns  around  the  shaft  a  ro- 
tary motion  could 
^z^^^^^^^^^asss*^  l^g    imparted    to 

the  javelin  in 
throwing.  The 
ansa  of  the  anm- 
iithafifa  Wits  a  sem- 
icircular strap- 
handle  to  a  spear, 
like  the  bow  on  a 
sword-hilt.      The 

Fig.  lIQ.—Tlirovnng-hoards  of  Xorlhwestern  Eskimo.  acUs Of  the anciCUt 

Osci  was  a  massive  spear  like  a  harpoon,  with  an  attached  line  for  recov- 
ering it. 

The  natives  of  New  Caledonia  have  a  javelin  15  feet  long,  which  is 
discharged  by  a  plaited  cord  {oHnep)  atta<;hed  a  little  behind  the  middle 
of  the  spear.  This  oiinej)  (otherwise  called  aipp),  answering  to  the  amen- 
tum of  the  ancients,  but'superior  thereto,  is  a  plaited  cord  made  of  com- 
bined coir  fiber  and  fish-skin ;  it  has  a  knot  at  one  end  and  is  worked 
into  a  loop  at  the  other.  It  is  wound  around  the  spear-shaft  so  as  to  give 
it  a  rotary  motion  in  tiying.'"*^  When  a  spear  is  to  be  thrown  the  forefinger 
of  the  right  hand  is  put  into  the  looj),  and  the  man  balancing  the  weapon 
to  find  the  mi(hlle  takes  a  saihu's  half  hitch  at  a  i>oint  behind  the  center 
of  gravity.  Throwing  the  si)ear  he  looses  his  grasi)  at  once,  projecting 
the  weapon  by  the  cord,  which  becomes  detached  as  soon  as  the  back- 
ward pull  on  it  occurs,  leaving  the  cord  in  the  hand  of  the  thrower. 
The  ancient  amentum  was  attached  to  the  spear. 


>f  Nilson,  "Stouo  Ago,"  p.  174. 


Zi 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


V. — Shields. 

Shields  were  in  force,  iu  Pliiladelpliia,  from  Africa,  Asia,  Malaysia, 
and  Australia.  They  were  of  grass,  ratan,  hide,  wood,  and  other  mate- 
rials. Some  were  so  large  as  to  cover  the  person  5  others  were  smaller 
and  intended  to  be  moved  to  intercept  a  weapon;  others  still  were  long 
and  narrow,  used  in  parrying  s])ear-thrusts. 

Beginning  with  the  South  of  Africa,  the  first  we  find  is  the  Znln  shield 

in  the  department  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  It  is  of  ox-hide  and  of  a  long  ellip- 
tical shape.  The  color  denotes  service. 
Black  shields  are  for  boys;  white,  with 
mottlings,  for  warriors.  The  prevalence 
of  color  or  j^eculiar  markings  denotes  the 
regiment  to  which  the  warrior  belongs. 
The  shield  is  strengthened  by  a  vertical 
stake  at  the  rear,  which  forms  a  handle, 
and  projects  below  and  above,  where  it 
forms  a  rest  and  an  ornament,  respect- 
ively. A  strii)  of  black  hide  is  passed  iu 
and  out  of  a  double  row  of  slits,  one  row 
on  each  side  of  the  stick,  showing  on  the 
front  of  the  shield  like  oblong  markings 
on  a  white  ground.  Standing  on  its  end 
the  shield  comes  uj)  to  the  warrior's  eyes, 
the  stick  to  the  crown  of  his  head.  The 
shields  are  the  property  of  the  chief,  and 
are  apportioned  to  the  deserving.  The 
shapes  of  the  shields  vary  among  the  dif- 
ferent tribes  of  what  may  be  called  the 
Fig.  i2\.— Zulu  shield  of  ox-hide.  Kafir  racc.  Somc  of  the  shields  have  de- 
pressions in  the  sides  as  if  a  piece  had  been  cut  out,  resembling  the 
ancile  or  sacred  shield  of  Numa,  which  was  supposed  to  have  fallen 
from  Heaven.  In  some  instances  the  depressions  in  the  sides  are  so 
great  as  to  make  them  hour-glass  shaped.  The  Basuto  Kafirs'*"'  have  a 
curious  shield,  resembling  a  body  with  two  wings.  The  Bechuana  have 
a  shield  smaller  than  the  Zulus  and  cut  from  the  thickest  part  of  an  ox- 
hide. The  Barolongs  and  Batlapis  have  a  rectangular  shield,  edged  at 
top  and  bottom  with  two  rounded  wings. 

Passing  northward  and  reaching  the  latitude  of  Portuguese  occupa- 
tion, we  find  the  mat  shield  of  Angola,  Fig  122,  made  of  a  species  of 
grass  growing  commonly  in  many  parts  of  Africa.  The  same  style  of 
manufacture  is  shown  almost  all  along  the  Western  Coast — the  baskets 
and  mats  of  the  Gold  Coast,  for  instance.    The  grass  is  made  into  long 


is^Caaalis'  "Basutos,"  pp.  G3,  135,  136;  Livingstone's  "Zambesi,"  PL  opp.  p.  40. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       279 


rolls,  wliicli  are  laid  spirally,  beiiip;  interlaced  by  ratan  strips  which 
proceed  from  the  center  ladially.  The  view  shows  the  hack  of  tlie  shield 
witli  the  two  sticks  which  form  the 
handle.  The  shields  of  Londa-land, 
in  Equatorial  Africa,  on  tlui  AVest 
( 'oast,  are  madc^  of  reeds  jdaited  to- 
gether. Theshai)e  isoblonf^-scjuare, 
5  feet  by  2.  The  Apono  shields  are 
circnlar  and  of  basket-work.  The 
shield  of  the  Fans  of  the  Gaboon  "*« 
is  a  i)iece  of  hide  3  feet  long  aud  2i 
feet  wide  from  the  skin  of  the  ele- 
phant's shimlder.  This  resists  all 
the  native  weapons:   axes,  spears, 

arrows,  or  even  bullets  in  a  glancing  ^"^Jififtfflii^^tJ*^     S 

direction.  '   *^ 

The  Egyptian  collection  showed  ^'"-  i=2.-J/a**/.-w  of  Angola. 

a  number  of  shields  from  Central  Africa,  trophies  brought  nortli  by 
Long  Bey  from  his  exi)editiou  beyond  Khaitoom.  Fig.  12.'5  is  a  leathern 
conical  shield  with  a  handle  of  the  same.  It  is  2  feet  in  diameter;  alti- 
tude of  cone,  ()  inches.  It  is  made  of  ox  hide  and  has  a  strong  leathern 
binding.  It  is  ornamented  to  represent  basket-work.  Anotlier  shield 
exhibited  was  of  giraffe  hide  and  1  foot  in  diameter.  The  Roman  clipeus 
was  a  round  buckler  of  several  folds  of  ox  hide  covere<l  with  plates  of 

metal  and  sometimes  on  a 
wicker-work  foumlation.  Fig. 
123  shows  the  strap,  answering 
to  the  Roman  halteus,  by  which 
the  shiiOd  was  suspended  from 
the  shoidder. 

The  Dinkas  of  the  Upper 
Nile"-'  use  an  ox-hidesliieldlike 
the  Kafirs.  It  is  cut  in  oval 
foriri  and  crossed  by  a  stick  se- 
cured by  being  ])ass('d  thiough 
holes  cut  in  the  thick  Icatlu'r. 

Allied  to  the  shield  is  an  in- 
strument used  among  the 
Dinkasand  Niam-iiiams  forpar- 
rying  clubs  and  lances,  rather 
than  actually  covering  the  body. 
One  Dinka  instrument  looks 


Flfi.  123. — Leathern  shield  of  Uganda,  Africa. 


so  much  like  a  bow  that  it  has  been  mistaken  for  one ;  this  is  called  (la)iff. 
The  other  is  a  neatly  carved  piece  of  wood  abcmt  a  yard  long  and  with 
ahollowatthemid-length  for  the  hand-grasp.     A  similar  parrying  shield 


»««Wood,  vol.  i,  p.  596. 


'»' Schweinfurth's  "Africa,"  vol.  i,  p.  155. 


280        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


is  found  in  Australia  (see  infra,  Fig,  134).  The  Niam-niams  use  a  spin- 
dle shaped  wooden  implement  4  inches  broad  iu  the  middle  and  tapering 
to  a  point  at  each  end.  It  is  carried  in  the  left  hand,  a  handle  being 
scooped  out  of  the  center,  and  is  used  in  parrying  lances  and  spears  by 
means  of  a  dexterous  twist. 

The  Avooden  shield  of  Uganda  is  shown  in  Fig.  124.  The  wood  is 
soft,  ornamented  with  ratan  and  bound  with  leather.  It  is  2  feet  10 
inches  long,  2  feet  wide,  and  half  an  inch  thick.  The  wood  i)rojects  in 
the  center  to  form  a  boss ;  the  handle  is  of  ratan.  A  basket-work  shield 
from  Uganda,  also  from  the  Long  Bey  collection,  is  shown  in  Fig.  125. 
It  is  made  of  cane  strips  sewed  together 
with  ratau  over  ribs  of  split  wood.  It  is  3 
feet  8  inches  long  by  15  inches  wide.  The 
edge  is  bound  with  raw-hide,  and  iu  the  cen- 
ter is  a  block  18  by  G  inches  with  a  handle 
cut  in  it.     It  is  tied  to  the  shield  with  ratau, 


Tig.  125. — Basket  wnrk-  shield,  Uganda, 
Fig.  124.— Wooden  shield,  Central  Africa.  Africa. 

and  serves  to  strengthen  the  shield  as  well  as  afford  a  hold  for  the  hand. 

The  shield  of  the  Niam-niams  ^''^  is  plaited  from  the  Spanish  reed,  and 
is  of  a  long  oval  form  covering  two-thirds  of  the  body.  It  is  j)laited  in 
pretty  patterns  of  black  and  white  iu  crosses  and  is  lined  with  leopard 
skin.  Inside  of  the  shield  the  native  carries  the  irumhaah,  a  peculiar 
missile  weapon  with  blades  and  three  jirojecting  points.     See  supra. 

The  Monbuttoos  who  inhabit  the  territory  south  of  the  Kiam-uiams 
of  the  extreme  Upper  ^ile  waters  have  a  wooden  shield  of  rectangular 

'*•  Schweinfurth's  "Africa,"  vol.  i,  p.  441;  vol.  ii,  pp.  9-11. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTEXXIAL    EXHIBITION.       281 


shape,  somewhat  like,  but  Hatter  than,  the  Roman  scutntn,^^^  The  shield 
is  4  feet  by  2i  feet,  half  an  inc^h  thick,  and  is  hewn  out  of  tlie  solid  block. 
It  has  a  ridge-likc  i)rotubei"ance  across  the  middle  and  is  stitlcned  and 
ornamented  with  transvers*'  j dates  of  cop- 
])er  and  rotang  twist.  The  shields  are  usu- 
ally decorated  with  tails  of  the  jjninea  hog 
{I'otfnnachivrus),  and  arc  invariably  stained 
black. 

The  shield  of  the  Kanend)oo  negroes  in 
the  army  of  the  SultMu  of  IJorneo  is  about 
4  by  2  feet  and  of  an  oval  shape.  It  is  of  an 
extremely  light  wood,  which  grows  in  the 
shallow  waters  of  Lake  Tchad.  The  jiieces 
of  which  it  is  made  are  bound  together  with 
strips  of  raw-hide  with  the  hair  on.  These 
strajjs  make  a  vandyked  pattern  across  the 
shield  and  around  its  edge.  The  Arab  shield 
of  Zanzibar  '^^  is  round,  18  inches  in  diame- 
ter, made  of  rhinoceros  hide,  and  worn  at 
the  back  from  the  left  shoulder.  Tlie  Abys- 
sinian shield  is  made  of  buffalo  hide,  and 
its  convex  outer  surface  has  a  boss  in  the  rio.  i26.—2Tonbuftoo  wnoden  shield, 

.  ,     ■•         .   ,        ,  Ventral  Africa. 

center.     It  is  ornamented  with  the  mane, 

tail,  and  paw  of  a  lion,  if  the  owner  has  been  so  fortunate  as  to  kill  one  ; 
others  have  silver  or  brass  plates.  Around  the  shield  are  holes,  thi'ough 
which  passes  the  thong  by  which  it  is  susjK'nded.  It  is  changed  so  as 
to  hang  by  a  difCerent  hole  each  day,  in  order  that  it  may  not  become 
warped.  The  Nubian  shield  is  made  of  hippopotamus  or  crocodile  skin, 
and  has  a  central  projecting  boss  formed  of  a  separate  piece  of  skin.  It 
is  stretched  on  a  wooden  frame-work.  The  notches  in  its  jterimeter  are 
a  fashion,  probably  the  remaining  impression  of  some  aiKdent  shape. 

The  shields  of  ancient  Asia  Minor  and  Assyria  and  the  modern  shields 
of  India  show  the  various  shapes  and  materials  which  Ave  have  cited. 
The  large  shield  of  the  Assyrians,  used  at  sieges,  was  of  wicker-work  or 
hide;  it  had  a  curved  point  or  a  projection  like  a  roof.  It  was  held  by 
a  shield  bearer."''  The  oblong  standing  shield  was  referred  to  by  Herodo- 
tus, who  said '^^"  the  I'ersians  made  a  fence  of  their  osier  shields." 
The  Assyrians  had  also  circular  bucklers  of  hide  or  metal.  The  oval  co]»per 
shield  found  by  Dr.  Schliemann  in  the  excavations  at  Ilissarlik, '"■*•'  2S  feet 
below  the  surface,  is  20  inches  in  length,  (juit(>  liat,  except  a  raised  rim  and 
boss.  Herodotus  says'**  that  the  Carians  invented  the  han<lleofthe 
shield,  previous  to  which  time  it  had  been  strung  by  a  strap  from  the 

""Smith's  Diet.,  Gr.  &  Rom.  Aiitiq.,  London,  1875,  p.  1013. 

'^- Ruschenbcrger's  "Voyagl^  liouiid  the  World,"  p.  'M. 

'3^  Iliad,  h.  viii,  /.  319,  327;  1  Samuel,  xvii,  7 ;  Layard's  Ninoveh,  Pis.  vii,  viii. 

»'M  Herodotus,  1.  9,  o.  61. 

'"'' Sehliemann's  *'Troy  and  its  Remains,''  PI.  xiv,  opp.  p.  324. 

'*/.  i,  c.  171. 


282        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


neck. 


The  bucklers  used  during  the  Trojan  war  liad  wooden  handles.'^ 
One  circular  shield  shown  from  India  was  of  rhi- 
noceros hide,  18  inches  in  diameter,  and  orna- 
mented with  circular  ])l:ites  of 
iron.  The  round  buckler  of 
the  Kurds'"*  and  Arabs  are 
made  of  the  hideof  the  hippo- 
l^otanius.  The  Lepeha'''' (Sik- 
kim)  shield  is  of  cane  with  a 
tuft  of  yak  hair  in  the  mid- 
dle. The  ancient  Singhalese-"" 
shit  Ids  were  sometimes  cov- 
ered with  plates  of  the  cliank 
shell  {Turbinclla  rapa).  This 
is  yet  used  as  an  ornament  in 
some  parts  of  Malaysia.  It  is 
a  spiral  shell,-"' the  fishing  for 
which  is  a  monojioly  on  the 
Chinese  coast,  and  is  rented 
like  the  i)earl  fishery.  The 
great  market  for  the  shells  is  in 
India,  where  they  are  sawed 
into  rings,  and  worn  by  the  In- 
FiG.  127.— TTnnden  shield  o/ diau  woujeu  ou  their arms,  Icgs, 
""^*'  toes,  and  fingers.     In  Bengal 

the  shell  has  a  ceremonial  use,  and  is  buried  with  opulent  and  distin- 
guished i)ersons. 

The  Malaysian  shields^"^  are 
usually-  of  wood.  Two  were 
shown  in  the  Netherlands  col- 
onies collection.  Fig.  127  is 
strengthened  against  splitting 
by  transverse  strips  of  bamboo 
sewed  on  with  ratan.  The  wood 
is  half  an  inch  thick,  the  shield 
4  feet  long  and  IS  inches  wide. 
Theothershield,  Fig.  128,  is  also 
of  wood,  and  belongs  to  the 
Dyaks  of  Borueo.^"^  The  shape 
is  somewhat  peculiar,  being  nar- 
rowed in  the  middle  and  pointed 

Fig.  129.— Leathern  shield,  Philippine  Islands.  aboVC  and  bclOW.      lu  tllC  exam- 

ple, the  wood  has  bindings  of  ratan  and  tufts  of  human  hair  set  in  the 


Fig.    128.  —  Wooden    shield, 
jDi/aks  of  Borneo. 


'w  Iliad,  viii,  193. 
I'w  "  Jsiiieveli,"  vol.  ii,  p.  2(J6. 
'^''Hooker's  "Himalaya,"  vol.  i,  p.  304. 
^o" Tenutut's  "Ceylon/'  vol.  i,  p.  500. 


2"i  Bertolacci's  "Ceylon,"  '261. 

20-!  Eaffle's  "Java,"  4to,  i,  PI.  opp.  p.  276. 

2onVood,  vol.  ii,  pp.  475-76. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXTIIHITION.       283 


edftes.  It  is  4  feet  loii<;-,  10  iiiclu's  at  tlic,  widest  and  0  iiidios  at  the 
mi(lk'iij;tli.  Other  shields  have  beads  and  leatlieis,  either  separately  or 
with  the  tufts  of  hair.  Tlie  i)hiiii 
Mooch'ii  surfaces  are:  sometimes 
painted  with  geometric  li<;ures. 

Therhilii>i)ine  Ishmds  collection 
Inul  a  nund)er  of  sliields — one  of 
hide  and  a  number  of  wood.  l''i;4-. 
ILM)  is  a  buckler  of  hide  i)ainteil 
with  geometric  figures.  Figs.  130 
and  liU  are  four  wooden  shields 
of  the  ]'hilipi>ines.  They  are  from 
3  to  5  feet  long  and  from  10  to  12 
inches  broad.  They  raay  also  be 
classed  among  the  parrying  wea- 
l)ons,  being  evidently  intended  to 
ghince  aft"  arrows  or  spear  thrusts. 
The  shield  {htl((s<([i)  of  the  Ygor- 
rotes  of  the  rhili]>pines  is  of  wood 
covered  on  the  edge  with  ratan, 
and  is  10  inches  in  circumference.''"* 
The  shield  of  the  IVIalakus-"-'  of  the 
Eastern  Archipelago  is  narrow,  of 
hard  wood,  bent  to  an  arc  shape, 
inlaid  with  bits  of  shell,  and  i)ro- 
vided  with  a  single  handle  placed 
in  the  center.  The  warriors  of  the 
Solomon  Islands  use  clubs,  spears, 
bows    and    arrows.     Their    oval  ^'<'-  i3o.— iroodcn  shields,  Philippines. 

shields  are  of  rushes  so  thickly  jdalted  as  to  resist  arrows. 

The  Siamesj'.  shield,  Fig.  132,  is  indebted  for  its  lightness,  stifl'ness, 
and  strength  to  the  bamboo.  It  is  5  feet  in  height,  20  inches  in  width, 
and  has  two  thicknesses  of  i»laited  bamboo  siilit;--,  inclosing  a  layer  of 
plantain  or  band)oo  leaves. 

The  Chinese  shield  (Fig,  133)  is  made  of  ratan  cane,  coiled  from  the 
center  outward,  and  interhuied  with  ratan  splits  jn'oceeding  in  a  general 
radial  direction.  The  diameter  is  32  inches,  the  height  of  the  cone  8 
inches.  It  has  a  cross  bar  lashed  by  ratan  si)lits  and  an  arm-loop  and 
hand-grasp  similarly  attached. 

The  Australian  shields  are  of  three  general  descriptions :  The  toicerang, 
or  miihjd  (Fig.  134),  which  is  light,  long,  and  narrow,  used  for  warding 
off  the  blows  of  si)ears  and  boomerangs  by  a  circular  twist  which  de- 
tlectsthem  from  their  course ;  the  heilamon  {gee-am)  or  oval  shield,  which 
covers  the  i)erson  more  or  less  perfectly  and  receives  the  impact  of  the 


"o^Jasar,  "  Philippines,"  p.  210. 

^'•'^Bdclicr's  "Easteru  Archipelago,"  vol.  il,  p.  37G. 


284        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


•weapon ;  and  a  smaller  shield  held  like  a  cricket-bat  in  the  hand  by  a 
handle  at  the  end.     On  this  island  continent  are  various  tribes,  with 

varying  dialects,  and  the 
names  of  the  shields  are  not 
the  same  in  all  districts.  The 
names  mnJga  and  geemn  are 
those  given  by  R.  Brough 
Smith.''"'' 

The toWerang  {mulf/a)  or  par- 
rying shield  was  shown  in  the 
Victoria  section  of  the  Aus- 
tralian department.  It  is  2^ 
or  3  feet  long  and  used  for 
fencing  off  the  blows, of  mis- 
siles by  striking  them  in  flight. 


Fig.  1^2.— Basket-work  shield   of 
ti'ianx. 


riG.131. —  VToodcn  sJiiclds  of  the  rhilipjiincs. 

It  is  made  from  the  blue-gum  tree,  which  is  relatively  hard  and  heavy, 
enabling  it  Avlien  it  strikes  a  flying  weapon  to  swerve  it  from  its  flight 
without  too  great  a  strain  on  the  wrist.  The  hand-hold  is  cut  out  of  the 
solid  back  of  tlie  shield,  or,  when  the  material  is  thin,  the  ends  of  the 
handle  piece  are  driven  through  the  front  of  the  shield  and  secured. 

The  size  given  by  R.  Brough  Smith  is  35  by  5  inches,  and  he  states 
that  they  are  usually  made  of  iron-wood  or  the  box-wood  of  the  colony. 

206  Aborigines  of  Victoria,  Melbourne,  1878,  pp.  330-334. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       285 


Fii;.  133. — Chinese  shield  of  basket-work.     (Itiside.) 


All  have  liaiid-liolds,  made  out  of  tlic  solid,  and  tlir  wci^dit  is  from  2i  to 
3.i  pounds.     A  variety  of  sizes  and  some  variation  ol  jtat  terns  are  shown 

in    Fi<rs.  113-121) 

of  his  work.'"' 
The    hcilamon 

{gec-am),    or    war 

shield, usedhythc 

aborij;inesof  New 

Soutlta  Wales,  is 

2    feet    long,    10 

inches  broad,  and 

usually  made  from 

a   solid   block  of 

wood,    though 

sometimes   from 

bark.    The   de- 
pression  and 

hand -grasp    are 
'^^!><^\    carved  out  of  the 

wood.    That  shown  in  Fig.  135  is  made  from  the  wood  of 

the  gigantic  nettle-tree.     In  otlier  i^arts  of  Australia  the 

bark  of  some  one  of  the  numerous 

species  of  gum  is  bent  to  form  by 
'^/        tlie  ap])lication  of  heat,  and  a  han- 
dle or  arm  bow  is  laslied  on.     The 

shape  is  usually  a  long  oval,  but 

some  are  of  a  diamond  shai)e.    The 

bark   shield   is   called  nvilahakkn. 

The  Murray   liiver  blacks   make 

canoes,  by  means  of  this  bending 

process,  from  the  bark  of  the  tea- 
tree    {indaleuca,   i.  e.,   black    and 

white),  and  from  various   species 

of  eucalypti. 

In  the  work  just  referred  to,*"-  the 

larger  shield^  for  general   protec- 
tion, isspoken  of  as  generally  made 

of  green  bark,  whicli  is  curved  by 
^'ang'^rpaVrVing  laying  it  upou  au  earthen  mound 
shield  of  Austra.  ^^   ^^^^  required    shape,    covered 

with  hot  embers ;  the  bark  is  laid  there<m  an<l 
weighted  with  stones.  It  has  a  hand  grasp  of 
the  original  wood,  or  one  is  inserted.  The  size 
is  38  by  10  inches. 

The  Victoria  section  of  the  Australian  dei)artment  showed  shields  of 

«"  Aborigines  of  Victoria,  Melbourne,  1878,  pi  300  et  aeq. 
^Ibid.,  p.  -3^2,  Figs.  131-139, 


FlO.    135. — JTeilamon    or    war- 
shield  of  yew  South  Wales. 


286        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


the  tliird  kind  (Fig.  130),  each  having  a  handle,  so  that  it  looked  like 
a  bat.     Such  a  shield  is  24  by  10  inches,  and  is  made  by  shrinking  bark 
into  a  curved  shape  by  water  and  heat  and  stiffening  it  with  a  cross 
stick. 
The  wooden  shield  of  Western  Australia  is  shown  in  Smith's  work.'^"^ 

The  shield  of  the  North  American  In- 
dian is  made  of  buffalo  hide.  In  making 
it,  a  piece  of  bull-buffalo  skin  is  selected, 
twice  as  large  as  tire  shield  required.  A 
hole  is  dug  in  the  ground,  as  large  as  the 
future  shield,  and  a  snuulge  of  smoke  of 
rotten  wood  is  made  under  the  skin,  which 
is  pegged  above.  As  the  skin  is  heated,  a 
glue  made  of  the  horns  and  hoofs  is  rubbed 
in  hot,  which  causes  the  skin  to  contract, 
and  the  pegs  are  regularly  loosened  to  al- 
low it  to  shrink,  at  the  same  time  keeping 
it  stretched.  When  it  has  imbibed  the 
necessary  quantity  of  glue,  and  has 
reached  the  dimensions  of  the  hole,  being 
twice  as  thick  as  in  its  natural  condition, 
it  is  ready  for  the  trimming  and  dressing 
which  complete  it  as  a  shield 

The  Uaupe  Indians  of  the  Amazon^'" 
use  shields  of  wicker-work,  sometimes 
covered  with  tapir  skin.  Sometimes  the 
hide  of  the  \mca  marina  or  sea  cow  is  used 
by  the  Amazon  Indians  for  making  shields;  it  is  the  largest  animal  ac- 
cessible, and  its  skin  fills  the  place  occupied  by  the  rhinoceros,  hippo- 
potamus, and  elephant  hide  in  the  torrid  regions  of  Africa. 

VI. — Bows  AND  ARROWS. 

The  use  of  poison  upon  arrows  by  savages  is  very  ancient,  and  is  yet 
found  in  many  distant  parts  of  the  world.  The  very  name  for  "  poison" 
in  Greek  {toxicon) — and  the  Latin  is  similar — is  derived  from  the  word 
equivalent  to  "  arrow."  Commencing  our  notice  of  bows  and  arrows  with 
South  Africa,  the  first  example  we  find  is  the  poisoned  arrow  of  the 
hosjesmaji,  or  bushman.^'^ 

"But  black  as  deatli,  the  thin-forged,  bitter  point, 
That  with  the  worm's  blood  fate  did  erst  anoint." 

Death  of  Paris.    (Earthly  Paradise.) 

This  arrow  is  in  several  pieces;  the  head  is  a  triangidar  iron  plate 
inserted  into  the  end  of  a  short  section  of  reed,  which  slips  over  a  piece 

205  Aborigines  of  Victoria,  Melbourne,  1878,  p.  339,  Fig.  148. 
2inVallace's  "Amazon,"  p.  504. 

21'Casalis'  Basutos,  xiv;  Livingstone's  Travels,  p.  189;  Baine's  South  Africa,  pp. 
144,  15",  164. 


Fig.  126.— Wooden  shi'lds  of  Victoria,  Aus 
tralia. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.       287 


Flo.  137.— 7ron  nrrow-heads  of  Angola,  Africa. 


of  ostrich-boiio  socket  in  the  reed-slnift  of  tlie  arrow.  In  some  eases  the 
weapon  consists  of  as  many  as  five  parts;  a  piece  of  ivory  on  the  end  of 
tlio  section  of  reed  and  lioMinj?  the  iron  ])<)int,  wiiicli  is  (huibed  with 
])oison.  In  each  case  the  j^lutinons  jjoison  holds  the  iron  tip,  and  the 
hitter  comes  off  in  the  wound.  The  poison  is  either  from  the  i)ntrilied 
cocoons  of  an  insect,  the  ''kaa  or  n//?m,  of  Li\nnf;stone,  fiom  the  i)oisoii 
fjland  of  the  pnf[-a«hh'i-,  or  from  tlie  I-JiipJiorhia  (irhorrscrnN.  The  arrows 
are  carried  in  a  neat  (juiver  of  bark  sewed  with  sinew.  The  bow  and 
quiver  are  slipped 
into  a  sinall  buck- 
skin, the  neck  of 
wliicli  is  tijj;htly 
bound  round  the 
bottom  of  the 
quiver,  while  the 
lepfs  serve  as  belts 
to  swin^  it  over 
the  shoulders.  The 
quiver  also  contains 
the  fire-.stick  and 
suckin<;-tube  of  the 
bushman. 

The  Kafir  does  not  use  the  bow  and  arrow,  althoujjh  he  suffers  from 
the  poisoned  arrows  of  the  bosjesman  and  fears  their  etfects.  The  Kafir 
weai)ons  are  the  assegai  and  kerrie;  that  is,  javelin  and  club. 

The  Angola  arrows,  Fig.  137,  have  heads  of  steel  on  reed-shafts.  The 
metal  is  obtained  of  very  good  (piality  by  native  methods.  Their  spear 
and  javelin  heads  for  thrusting  and  throwing  are  likewise  tipped  with 
steel.  The  arrow-heads  shown  in  Fig.  137  are  bound  to  the  shafts  with 
raw  hide,  grass,  or  ratan.  The  arrow-head  {a)  is  like  one  form  of  the 
bosjcNman  arrow,  in  which  the  base  of  the  triangular  steel  piece  is  in  ad- 
vance. 

The  poisoned  arrows  of  the  Zambesi"'-  and  Mozambique  countries  are 
made  in  two  pieces,  after  the  same  general  plan  of  those  of  tl»e  bushman 
of  the  south.  The  iron  barb  is  fastened  to  a  wand  of  wood  10  inches 
long,  which  slips  into  a  reed  shaft.  The  wood  below  the  arrow-head  is 
smeared  with  the  i)oison,  and  both  the  barb  and  the  stick  remain  in  the 
wound  while  the  reed  drops  off.  The  poison  is  obtained  from  a  species 
of  sfrophanthus.  The  bow  of  the  Zambesi  Maravi^''' is  intended  to  act  as  a 
shield  as  well, being  from  (J  to.Sinchesbroad,andusediui)aiTyingtlirusts. 

A  Central  African  quiver  brought  by  Long  Hey  is  shown  in  Fig.  138. 
Like  that  of  the  (lold  Coast  it  is  of  wood  bound  with  leather,  and  has 
tassels  of  the  same.  A  sheathed  knife  is  attached  to  the  (piiver.  The 
Niamniams,'"*  on  the  extreme  upper  waters  of  the  Nile,  do  not  use  the 
bow  and  irrow.     The  Monbuttoo,^"'  immediately  south  of  them,  on  the 

""Livinjrstonc's  "Zambesi,"  pp.  109,  491.      ^'^Scliwcinfurth's  "Africa,"  vol.  ii,  p.  9. 
«'3  Ibid.,  p.  583.  «'■■/?)((/.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  UK],  111. 


288        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


Welle  River,  have  both.  The  shafts  of  the  Monbuttoo  arrows  are  of 
reeds,  and  diller  from  all  others  of  that  vicinity  in  being  winged  with 
pieces  of  genet's  skin  or  plantain  leaves.  The  bows  are  over  3  feet 
long,  and  the  strings  made  of  a  strip  of  the  si)lit  Spanish  reed,  which 
possesses  more  elasticity  than  any  cord.  A  hollow  piece  of  wood  on  the 
bow  protects  the  thumb  from  the  blow  of  the  string.  The  arrow  is  dis- 
charged from  between  the  middle  fingers.  The  Dinkas^"^  of  the  Upper 
Kile  have  no  bow  and  arrow;  their  weapons  are  lances  and  clubs.  The 
Bongf)s-''  use  the  lance,  bow,  and  arrow.  Their  bows  are  4  feet  long, 
the  arrows  3  feet,  made  of  solid  wood,  and  anointed  with  the  mill<y  juice 
of  euiihorbia.    The  Madi  and  Bari^"*  tribes  of  Central  Africa  also  use 


Fig.  138. — Quiocr  of  Uganda,  Africa. 

poisoned  arrows;  so  do  the  Ashantees,  Fans,  and  Aponos  of  the  West. 

The  modes  of  handling  the  bow  in  Africa  are  various,  and  have  always 
been  so.  In  ancient  Egypt^'**  several  modes  were  adopted  even  by  the 
trained  troops.  The  mural  monuments  show  a  bowman  with  three  sup- 
plementary arrows  held  by  the  thumb,  the  string  being  pulled  to  the 
shoulder  by  the  fingers.  An  arrow  being  discharged  another  one  is 
jerked  up,  and  three  are  kept  in  the  air  at  a  time.  Another  figure  shows 
a  soldier  drawing  a  longer  bow,  having  a  larger  arrow,  and  pulling  with 
the  thumb  and  finger. 

The  Assyrians  drew  the  bow  to  the  cheek  or  to  the  ear,  as  did  the 
Saxons — not  to  the  breast  like  the  Greeks.  The  larger  Assyrian  bow 
was  carried  over  the  shoulder,  the  man  first  putting  his  head  through 


*'"Schwcinfnrth's  "Africa,"  vol.  i,  j).  154. 
^"Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  300. 


■•''"Baker's  "Isinailia,"  i)l.  opp.  p.  135. 
*i9  Wilkinson;  Kitto,  vol.  i,  p.  452. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT   THK    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


289 


it.  The  smaller  bow  was  carried  in  a  quiver  by  tlie 
side  of  the  chariot  alon<:;  with  the  arrows,  which  were 
reeds  with  heads  of  iron  or  copper.  A  linen  guard 
was  strappc<l  to  the  inside  of  the  left  arm  to  protect 
the  arm  against  the  blows  of  the  string. 

The  bow  and  arrow  of  Queensland,  Australia,  are 
shown  in  Fig.  130.  The  bow  is  0  feet  long  and  made 
of  the  male  bamboo,  wliicli  is  solid.  The  string  is  a 
stri])  of  ratan,  which  is  beaten  to  remove  the  liinty  coat- 
ing and  reduce  it  to  a  bunch  of  libers,  which  is  slightly 
twisted.  The  arrow  is  of  reed,  from  3  to  .")  feet  loug, 
has  no  nick  for  the  string,  nor  feathers  for  the  butt. 
The  arrow-head  is  of  hard  wood,  smooth,  kuoI)l)ed,  or 
barbed.  As  the  l)Ow  and  arrow  are  used  only  in  the 
northerly  part  of  Australia,""  around  the  Gulf  of  Car- 
pentaria and  in  Queensland,  it  may  reasonably  be  as- 
sumed that  they  are  of  foreign  origin,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  them  imported  from  Papua. 

The  Xcw  Guinean-^'  arrow  is  a  reed  tipjx'd  with 
hard,  heavy  wood,  grooved  to  receive  a  tai)ered  slice 
of  bamboo  with  a  point  made  by  an  oblique  cut.  The 
arrow  is  poisoned.  The  bow  is  0  feet  in  length,  made 
from  the  cocoa-nut  tree,  and  has  a  string  of  ratan. 
The  arrows- of  the  Solomon  Islanders  arc  tii)ped  with 
lish-boues;  those  of  the  Admiralty  Islands  arc  of  reed 
with  hard- wood  heads  secured  by  ligatures  of  bark. 
The  Tonga  Island  arrows  are  of  reed  and  hard  wood? 
the  junction  of  the  two  being  covered  wiih  plaited 
sinnet  and  varnished.  The  Andaman  Islanders^"  use 
a  bow  of  tough,  strong  wood  5  or  G  feet  in  length,  and 
having  two  tiat  bulges,  one  on  each  side  of  the  central 
hand-hold.  The  arrows  are  of  ratan  with  a  hard-wood 
head  and  a  barb  made  of  a  fish-bone,  the  tail-bone  of 
the  sting-ray,  or  a  nail  when  one  can  be  i)rocured.  The 
point  of  the  arrow  is  sometinies  poisoned. 

The  bow  of  the  Philipi)iiie  Islands  is  a  slab  off  the 
side  of  a  large  bamboo,  or  it  is  sometimes  made  of 
caryota  wood;  the  string  of  abacj'i,  3"""  in  diameter.-'^^ 

Other  arrows  (pana)  have  shafts  {gaho)  of  caryota 
wood  and  points  {hncM)  of  bamboo,  or  sometimes  the 
whole  arrow  is  of  wood  1"'  to  1.8"'  in  length.  The  heads 
are  hastate,  barbed,  three-pointed,  or  carved  spirally. 


*»Woo(l,  vol.  ii,  p.  46, 
M'  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  225. 
«2Mouat'8  "And.-iinan,"  pp.  271,  321. 

»"  Jagor's  "Travels  iu  the  Philippines,"  London,  1^75,  pp.  C57, 
138,  210. 

S.  Mis.  54 19 


290        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


They  have  dittereiit  iiaines:  hnloij,  hold,  scnqwng,  &c.  They  are  some- 
times (lipped  ill  a  poisouous  mixture  looking  like  tar,  and  made  from  the 
mixed  inspissated  juices  obtained  from  the  bark  of  two  trees.  The  quiver 
is  of  bamboo;  the  arrow  is  frecpiently  a  cane  with  a  tip  of  hard  wood 
(sharpened),  bamboo,  bone,  or  metal.  The  arrows  exhibited  in  the 
Spanish  Building  are  shown  in  Fig.  140. 
The  bow,  club,  and  sling  are  not  found  among  the  i)rimitive  Dyaks  or 

any  other  aborigines  of  Malayo-Poly- 
iiesia,  except  the  Bisayan  race.^^^  The 
Sagais  of  Borneo  use  the  sumpitan^-^ 
for  propelling  poisoned  arrows  by 
means  of  the  force  of  the  breath.  The 
natives  called  a  rocket  a  "fire  sumpi- 
tan."  The  blow-gun,  which  is  similar 
to  the  zarabatana  of  the  Macooshees^^^ 
of  South  America,  is  a  tube  of  hard 
wood  {Casuarina  equisetifolia),  7  or  8 
feet  long,  and  with  a  bore  of  half  an 
Inch.  An  iron  muzzle-sight  is  fixed 
upon  the  upper  side  and  a  spear  upon 
the  lower,  the  latter  serving  to  keep 
the  tube  straight,  its  projecting  blade 
also  serving  as  a  weapon.    The  arrow, 

Fig.  UO.-Iron  r.rroicheads  of  the  Philippines,  sumpit^   is   9    iuchcS    in    length,  formed 

of  a  leaflet  rib  of  the  nihon  palm.  The  point  of  hard  wood  is  smeared 
with  the  deadly  poison  of  the  Upas  tree,  and  has  brittle  barbs  or  the 
tail-bone  of  the  sting-ray,  which  breaks  off  in  the  wound.  The  arrow 
is  run  through  a  cone  of  the  pith  of  the  nihon  wood,  which  fits  the  bore 
and  prevents  windage.  The  range  is  variously  stated  at  from  40  to  150 
yards — from  40  to  80  yards  is  the  more  probable  statement. 

The  common  bow  of  India  is  made  from  the  male  bamboo,  bound  at 
intervals  with  belts  of  split  ratan.  Another  form  is  made  of  horn  and 
wood.  The  hand-hold  and  the  ends  are  wood  and  the  two  intervening 
pieces  are  of  a  buffalo  horn  which  is  sawed  lengthwise,  flattened  by  heat 
and  pressure,  and  fastened  by  long  splice  joints  to  the  middle  and  end 
ineces.  It  is  like  the  arcus  patnlus  of  the  Komans.  Sinews  are  laid 
along  the  back  of  the  bow  and  so  agglutinated  by  heat,  moisture,  and 
pressure  that  they  appear  to  form  one  piece  with  the  body  of  the  bow. 
Tlie  whole  is  then  anointed  with  glue  and  ornamented  according  to  taste. 
The  horn  jiortions  are  principally  involved  in  the  flexure,  and  when  the 
bow  is  unbent  it  recurves  and  assumes  the  shape  of  the  letter  "C,"  the 
back  being  inward  like  the  arcus  sinuosus  of  the  classic  period.  The 
bow  string  is  of  vegetable  fiber.     The  arrow  is  of  reed  with  a  hard- wood 

22< Belcher's  "Eastern  Archipelago, "  vol.  ii,  p.  338. 

2-5 Boyle's  "Dyaks  of  Borneo,"  pp.  251,  252;  Raffles'  "Java,"  4to,  vol.  i,  p.  296,  aud 
Fl.;  Belcher's  "Eastern  Archipelago,"  vol.  i,  p.  227;  vol.  ii,  pp.  133,  134. 
22tiWood,  vol.  i,  p.  583. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT   THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


201 


point  and  butt,  the  former  receivin*?  a  quad- 
ran<;ulai'st(M'l  piece,  and  the  latter  the  featliers 
and  the  notch  for  tlie  strinj;.  Another  Indian 
arrow  lias  a  wood«'n  shaft  with  barbed  head 
laslied  to  the  shaft  with  twine,  and  "feath- 
ered," so  to  speak,  with  dry  leaves  set  in  slits 
in  the  butt  of  the  arrow. 

The  maritime  peoi)le  of  Ceylon  are  largely 
from  the  Malabar  coast  of  India  and  are  dis 
tinct  both  fiom  the  Sin^^iialese,  the  i)rincipal 
nation  of  the  island,  and  from  the  Veddahs, 
the  wild  aborigines  who  still  inhabit  the  less 
accessible  forests.  The  .Singhalese  chronicles 
record  that  the  Malabar  arrows  were  some- 
times "drenched  with  the  poison  of  serpents.""'' 

The  Veddahs  ^-^  are  exi)ert  with  the  bow, 
which  they  hold  in  the  right  hand  and  draw 
the  string  with  the  left.  The  bow  is  C  feet  3 
long,  and  the  arrow  3  feet.^-"  Iron  arrow  ^ 
blades'''*'  are  the  only  articles  of  foreign  man-  r^ 
nfacture  which  they  covet.  Another  Veddah  o 
bow  is  sprung  by  the  feet,-''  the  string  being  I' 
held  by  both  hands,  the  archer  lying  upon  his  ^ 
back.  This  unusual  mode  is  mentioned  by  Ar-  §, 
rian,''-'^  and  is  practiced  by  the  Cahaclos  QiV>ra-  t 
zil  -'^  and  the  Gran  Chacos  of  La  Plata.  ^ 

The  Tartars  and  Chinese  use  a  bow  which 
assumes  a  recurved  form  when  unstrung.  The 
exanjple  shown  in  Fig.  141  was  upon  theefligy 
of  aChinese  soldier  in  the^Iiiieral  Annex  to  the 
Main  Building.  It  is  nearly  G  feet  in  length 
and  a  few  inches  from  each  end  is  a  bone  stud 
over  which  the  string  passes.  The  bow  is 
bent  by  placing  it  behind  the  right  thigh  and 
in  front  of  the  left,  then  bending  it  by  a  sud- 
den stoop  of  the  body  throwing  the  force  on 
the  right  leg,  and,  by  a  (piick  motion,  catching 
the  string  over  the  end  of  the  bow  and  into  the 
notch.  The  body  of  the  bow  is  a  bent  bamboo 
strip  of  the  solid  variety,  and  to  its  ends 
wooden  pieces  are  lashed  with  sinews.  It  has 
a  cord  string.  The  shape  is  exactly  that  of  the 
Scythian  bow   {(ircu,s   M-ylhicus)  as  shown  on 

«'Tenuent's  "Ceylon,"  vol.  i,  p.  500. 
^''Kuox,  "Ceylon,"  61. 
*-'^H.  S.,  "Ceylon,"  London,  1876,  vol.  i. 
«*> Forbes'  "Ceylon,"  vol.  ii,  p.  78. 


»'  Teunont'8  "  Ceylon,"  vol.  i,  p.  499. 

"'Indira.  1.  xvi. 

"»  Fletcher  &  Kidder's  "Brazil,"  p.  553. 


292       SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL   EXHIBITION. 


/i 


classic  vases  and  gems.    The  Japanese  bows  and  arrows  are  shown  in 

Siebold's  <.'re!it  work.^^* 
The  bow  of  the  North  American  Indian  is  sehlom  much  over  4  feet 
lonf>-  and  is  always  used  on  horseback ;  his  aim  is  not 
remarkable  for  accuracy,  but  he  discharges  the  arrows 
with  groat  force  and  rapidity.  The  bow  is  made  of  wood, 
bone,  or  iron.  An  ash  bow  with  the  sinews  of  the  buf- 
falo or  deer  worked  into  the  back  is  no  contemptible 
weapon  either  to  draw  or  to  face.  The  bow,  Fig.  142, 
like  tlie  Roman  arctis  paUdns,  is  made  of  several  horns 
spliced  together.  In  the  present  case,  the 
horns  are  those  of  the  mountain  sheep.  Oris 
Montana.  They  are  made  by  heating  the 
horns  in  hot  ashes  and  drawing  them  out, 
then  splicing  pieces  together  with  bands  of 
deer  sinew.  The  joints  are  hidden  by  orna- 
mental coverings  of  cloth,  skin,  or  dj^ed  por- 
cupine quills.  Such  bows  are  valued  at  the 
price  of  two  horses,  as  the  horns  of  which 
they  are  made  must  be  obtained  by  barter 
with  Eocky  Mountain  Indians.  The  arrow 
is  of  wood  or  reed  and  headed  with  flint,  bone, 
or  iron.  Indian  arrow-heads  are  the  most 
common  article  in  the  American  sections  of 
ethnological  museums,  and  show  wide  differ- 
ence in  shape,  material,  and  size.  The  exam- 
jde,  Fig.  143,  has  a  point  of  chipped  chalced- 
ony. Fig.  144  also  shows  chipped  flint 
arrow-heads  of  the  Pai-Utes  of  Southern 
Utah.  They  are  cemented  and  bound  to  the 
wooden  shafts. 

The  Indians  of  the  California  peninsula 
make  bows  of  willow-root,  and  attach  strings 
of  intestines.  Their  arrows  are  of  reed  with 
triangular  hard-wood  heads.-^'*  Flint  arrow- 
heads of  Terra  del  Fuego,  and  of  the  stone 
age  of  Sweden,  are  shown  and  described  in  i 
Nilson,^^®  and  those  of  the  dwellers  on  the  * 

dianhowof  mount- 'pW^  villagcs  of  tlic  Swis.*  lakcs,  in  Desor's  ^'''- ^"^^ 

ain  sheep's  horns.  i    oq7    -r»  •     .  i  r,  n 

work.-^'   J3one  arrow  points  and  bows  of  yew 
are  also  found  in  the  same  localities.^*'' 

2^«"Xippou,"  vi,  PI.  1,  bis;  vii,  PL  19,  Figs.  1,  1,  a,  '2;  vv,  PI.  22;  see  also  Ibid,  ii, 
PI.  5,  for  bovr3  and  arrows  in  great  variety.     Also  upper  row  iu  PI.  15  and  21,  vol.  ii. 
23S  Baegart,  in  Snuthsonian  Report.,  18G3,  pp!  362,  3. 
2^"'  Stone  age,  Plate  v,  and  pages  i,  43-5. 
*'"  Translation  in  Smithsonian  Report,  1865,  p.  .374,  .356. 
*^^  Morlot.    Traualaticn  in  Smithsonian  Report,  1862,  p.  376. 


Sioux 
stone-pointed 
arroto,  Dakota. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        293 


(^^^^^ 


Fic.  U4.— Chipped  fliiU  an 
headii,  Utah. 


The  Oregon  Indians  make  their  bows  of  cypress,  Cuprcssus  Lawsoniana, 
or  of  yew,  Taxus  hrevifoJiu.  The  woixl  is  strciijjjtlu'ncd  on  tlu'  back 
with  sinew,  in  the  manner  so  comiiKni  throughout  tlic  Xortliwest  The 
string  is  of  sinew  and  the  arrow  of  reed  pointed  with  obsidian.  The 
arrow-head  is  ehippcd  to  ioriii  by  a  tool  siini- 
hir  to  that  by  which  the  ^hi/.ier  nibbh*s  liis 
ghiss  to  shajie.  The  feathers  of  the  arrow  are 
set  on  si)irally.  Poison  for  the  arrow-heads  is 
made  by  causing  a  ratth'snake  to  strike  its 
fangs  into  liver,  which  is  tlien  allowed  to  pu- 
trify  and  the  arrows  are  smeared  therewith. 
Tlie  bow  of  the  Ahts  of  Vamtouver's  Island ^^' 
is  also  of  wood  fortified  with  sinews.  The  arrow  is  large  and  has  a 
barbed  bone  lip ;  the  arrow  for  fish  has  two  tips  barbed  on  the  inside 
like  the  Australian  fishing-siu'ar,  and  clasps  any  object  it  may  come 
across.  The  feathering  of  tlie  arrow  is  put  on  spirally.  The  Ahts  have 
also  an  arrow  with  a  detachable  barbed  bone  point,  connected  by  two 
cords  with  the  shaft,  with  which  they  form  an  equilateral  triangle  ;  the 
shaft  impedes  the  seal  in  its  motions  and  acts  as  a  float.  The  same  fea- 
ture is  common  in  Eskimo  harpoons. 

The  bow  of  the  Kutchin  tribes  of  the  IVLackenzie  and  Youcon  Kivers 
are  of  willow,  5  feet  long  and  with  an  enlargement  at  the  grasp  to  pro- 
tect the  hand  against  the  snap  of  the  string.  The  arrows  are  of  i»ine; 
arrow-head  of  bone  of  wild-fowl,  or  of  bone  tipped  with  iron  for  moose 
or  deer,"" 

The  bow  of  the  Greenland  Eskimo  is  made  of  horn,  bone,  or  wood, 
re-enforced  on  the  outer  side  with  a  multitude  of  deer  sinews,  which  are 
put  on  so  tight  as  to  give  the  bow  some  backward  curvature.  Its  aver- 
age length  is  3}t  feet.  The  bow  string  is  twisted  deer  sinews.  The 
Eskimo  arrows  are  of  wood  tii)ped  with  bone  or  stone;  or  in  some  cases 
of  wood  and  bone  tipped  with  iron.     Bow  and  arrows  arc  in  a  quiver 

of  seal-skiu.  Fig.  14")  sliows  three  arrow- 
heads in  the  Greenland  division  of  the  Dan- 
ish department ;  the  left-hand  is  of  bone 
and  the  others  of  stone.  Tlie  Eskimo  uses 
a  wrist-guard  of  bone  plates  tied  together 
and  fastened  by  a  button  and  loop ;  it  re- 
ceives the  blow  of  the  Viow-string. 

In  tlie  warmer  regions  of  America,  like 
the  countries  to  which  Ave  have  referred, 
the  jioisoned  arrow  is  no  new  thing.  Her- 
Fiu.  Wj.—Egkimo  arrows,  Greenland,  i.^.j..,^  fj,,.  Spanish  ad  Venturer,  died  from  the 
efltects  of  a  poisoned  arrow.  I)e  Soto's  historians"'  mention  arrows 
barbed  with  flint,  arrows  without  barbs,  arrows  of  reed  tipped  with 


***  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  725. 


^  Stnithsonian  Report,  1866,  p.  '.yi2. 


«•••  Irving,  op.  cit..  pp.  IIU,  VJo,  225. 


294       SAVAGE    WEAPONS   AT   THE    CENTENNIAL   EXHIBITION. 

lozenge-shaped  buck's-horu  plates,  and  arrows  tipped  with  fish-bones, 
with  palm  spikes,  and  with  hard  wood. 

The  zarabatanar*'  or  blow-guu  of  the  Guiana  tribes  is  made  in  two 
pieces,  each  of  which  has  a  semi  cylindrical  groove,  so  that  the  two  form 
a  perfect  tube  when  bound  together  with  spiral  strijjs  of  the  pliable 
iacitara  wood.  The  outside  is  covered  with  wax  and  resin.  A  trumpet- 
shaped  mouth-piece  directs  tlie  wind  from  the  mouth  and  lungs  into  the 
tube  when  the  lips  are  suddenly  opened  ;  the  puff  seems  to  be  directly 
from  the  chest.  The  blow-gun  is  12  feet  long  and  quite  heavy.  A 
lighter  gun,  pucuna,  of  the  same  region,  is  made  of  a  ten  or  fifteen  feet 
section  of  a  reed  {Arundinaria  Schomhergii),  which  grows  in  a  limited 
region  on  the  Upper  Orinoco,  and  has  a  length  of  over  12  feet  between 
the  joints  of  its  lower  portion.  This  reed  forms  the  ourah  or  barrel  and 
is  slipped  into  a  stick  of  palm  {Ireartia  setUjera)  from  which  the  pith 
has  been  pushed  out.  The  mouth-piece  end  is  bound  with  silk  grass 
and  the  other  end  fortified  with  the  half  of  an  acuero  nut,  which  also 
forms  the  muzzle  sight.  The  breech  sight  is  made  of  two  incisor  teeth 
of  a  cavy,  which  are  secured  with  wax  to  the  tube,  the  depression  be- 
tween the  teeth  being  the  valley  sight.  The  gun  is  held  in  the  left 
hand,  the  elbow  of  that  arm  resting  on  the  hip.  The  right  hand  grasps 
the  tube  near  the  mouth  piece,  and  the  gun  is  raised  by  bending  the 
body.  It  weighs  about  a  pound  and  a  half — but  a  fraction  of  the 
weight  of  the  zarabatana.  The  arrow  is  made  of  the  leaf  rib  of  the 
coticourite  palm.  It  is  10  inches  in  length,  about  the  size  of  a  crow- 
quill,  is  pointed  by  means  of  a  fish-tooth  scraper,  and  is  fitted  to  the 
bore  with  a  pledget  of  wild  cotton  {Bomhax  cciba).  The  arrows 
depend,  like  the  sumpits  of  the  Dyaks,  upon  their  sharp  poisoned  tips. 
The  i)oison  is  obtained  from  the  wourali  vine  {Strychnos  toxifera)  and 
a  bitter  root,  the  hyarri,  to  which  are  added  poisonous  ants,  poison 
fangs  of  snakes,  and  other  things  to  give  efi^'ect  to  the  stufi",  or  to  con- 
ceal the  real  ingredients,  as  the  composition  is  a  secret  in  the  hands  of 
the  conjuror.  The  poison  has  an  instantaneous  numbing  effect,  the  vic- 
tim seeming  void  of  pain  or  fear,  dropping  immediately,  and  dying  in  a 
short  time  without  a  struggle.  The  arrows  are  kept  in  a  "quiver"  or  in 
a  "roll,"  and  each  is  cut  deeply  near  the  head,  so  that  the  i)oisoned  por- 
tion may  break  off  in  the  wound.  The  range  is  from  50  to  100  yards. 
A  modification  of  the  arrow  is  one  in  \7hich,  instead  of  the  cotton,  a  piece 
of  bark  is  placed  spirally  on  the  stem  of  the  arrow,  terminating  in  a 
hollow  cone,  which  fills  the  bore  when  the  cone  is  expanded  by  the  wind ; 
a  singular  anticipation  of  the  hollow-base  Minie  bullet,  which  is  ex- 
panded into  the  grooves  of  the  rifle  by  the  evolution  of  gases  due  to  the 
explosion  of  the  powder.  A  piece  or  two  of  bark,  laid  spirally  on  the 
arrow-shaft,  feather  the  arrow,  and  make  it  revolve  in  flying.  This  is 
equivalent  to  the  rifling  of  a  gun.  This  arrow  is  tipped  with  a  small 
piece  of  iron. 

!"*  Wood,  vol.  ii,  p.  583. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        295 

For  war  or  for  killing  the  tapir  or  jaguar,  an  arrow  G  feet  long  is 
made  of  a  reed,  having  for  a  head  a  hard-wood  spike,  an  iron  point,  or 
the  tail  bone  of  the  stingray.  Poison  is  used  ou  either.  The  arrow  is 
projected  by  a  bow. 

The  blow-gun  of  the  Uaup^s  of  the  Amazon-^'  is  called  the  grara- 
tana^  and  is  made  of  two  stejQS  of  the  small  palm  Ireartia  sctigira,  one 
slipping  within  the  other  so  as  mutually  to  correct  curvatures.  The 
pith  i.s  pushed  out,  and  a  conical  mouthpiece  htted  to  one  end.  Arrows 
are  maile  from  tlie  spinous  processes  of  the  patawa  [JlLiwcarpns  hatawa), 
pointed  and  anointed  with  poison  of  the  wourali.  The  butt  of  the 
arrow  carries  a  little  tuft  of  tree  cotton  to  make  it  fit  in  the  tube. 

The  ordinary  bow  of  the  Uaupes,^"  the  aboriginal  Indians  (jf  Brazil,  is 
of  different  kinds  of  hard  elastic  wood,  and  is  fi  om  o  to  0  feet  long.  The 
string  is" either  of  the  tucum  leaf-liber  {Astrocaryuni  vulgare),  or  the  inner 
bark  of  trees  called  tururi.  The  arrows  are  5  feet  long  or  over,  are  made 
of  the  Hower-stalk  of  the  arrow-grass,  and  are  tipped  with  hard  wood, 
barbexl  with  the  serrated  spine  of  the  sting-ray.  For  war,  the  head  is 
anointed  with  poison,  and  is  notched  in  two  or  three  places  so  as  to  break 
off  in  the  wound.  Arrows  for  shooting  lish  have  usually  iron  heads, 
bought  of  the  traders,  but  others  are  made  of  monkey's  bones  and  barbed. 
The  arrows  have  three  feathers  laid  ou  spirally. 

Tiie  Indians  of  the  Amazon  also  use  a  two-stringed  bow  for  shooting 
stones.  The  pellet  bow  has  a  pad  or  net  in  the  middle  of  the  string,  to 
hold  a  stone  or  ball  of  clay,  to  project  it  in  the  manner  of  an  arrow. 
Such  are  used  in  South  America  and  Africa.^^* 

The  arrow  of  the  Guiauians,  used  in  shooting  turtles,  is  projected  by  a 
bow  and  has  a  movable  harpoon  head  of  iron  detachable  from  the  shaft, 
but  secured  loosely  thereto  by  a  thong.  The  turtle-shooting  bow  of  the 
Central  American  Indians  is  made  from  the  Soupar  palm,  GuiUelma 
spcciosa  ;  the  shafts  of  the  arrows  from  the  dry  stalks  of  the  cane,  saccha- 
rinum  officinarum,  tipped  with  hard  wood  or  iron. 

The  Peru\ian  arrows  were  tipi)ed  with  coi»per  or  bonc.'^ 

The  arrows  of  the  Paraguayan  Indians  are  of  several  kinds.  Some 
have  block  points  to  kill  birds  without  bleeding  them  ;  others  with  long 
wooden  four-sided  heads,  sharpened  and  cut  into  barbs.  These  heads 
are  carefully  lashed  on  to  the  shaft,  which  is  in  all  cases  of  cane.  The 
arrows  were  shown  in  the  Agricultural  Building,  are  from  3  to  4  feet 
long,  and  have  feather  flyers  put  on  straight. 

The  Gran  Chaco  Indian  of  the  La  Plata  region,"'  destitute  of  habita- 
tion himself,  employs  tire-arrows  when  attacking  a  settlement.  He  binds 
some  cotton  around  the  head  of  each  arrow  just  behind  the  head,  and  then 
lying  down  he  holds  the  large  bow  with  his  feet  while  he  draws  the 

««  Wallace's  Amazon,  pp.  214, 215. 

^Ibid.,  pp.  486,487. 

«^«See  Tylor'3  "  Early  History  of  Mankind,"  notes,  p.  177. 

«*«"  Conquest  of  IVru,"  p.  73. 

»<'Wood,  voL  ii,  p.  570. 


296        SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION. 


Fig.  146. — Paragitayan  arrows. 


string  witli  both  hands  and  kits  lly  the  lij^hted  arrows  one  after  the  other, 
with  considerable  rapidity.     The  malleolu,s  of  the  Kouians  was  a  large 

missile  like  a  distaft"  with  an  arrow-point; 
the  cage  of  the  distalf  was  filled  with  tow 
steei)ed  in  pitch.  It  was  lighted  before  being 
discharged,  and  it  was  intended  that  the  ar- 
row should  penetrate  the  wooden  object  or 
thatch  and  hold  it  while  the  incendiary  ma- 
terial shoidd  set  lire  to  the  building. 

The  Fuegian  bow  is  strung  with  twisted 
sinews  ;  the  arrow  is  of  hard  wood  and  has  a 
notch  in  the  end,  holding  a  piece  of  Hint  or 
obsidian,  which  comes  off  in  t-he  wound. 

We  may  conclude  this  account  of  savage 
weai)ons  by  some  references  to  the  cross-bow. 
This  was  shown  in  the  i^Torwegian  Department 
in  the  Main  Building,  and  is  a  remnant  of  me- 
diieval  times.  The  instrument,  however,  is 
found  in  use  in  several  parts  of  the  world,  and  some  of  the  African  and 
Asiatic  examples  show  more  ingenuity  than  the  European  weapons  with 
which  we  are  more  familiar. 

The  Norwegian  cross-bow.  Fig.  147,  has  a  stock  30  inches  long  with  a 
24:-inch  powerful  steel  bow.  The  stock  is  handsomely  inlaid  with  ivory; 
the  string  is  a  covered 
cord,  and  the  bolt  is  shown 
in  its  groove.  TheEoman 
Scorpio  was  perhaps  the 
oldest  instrument  of  the 
kind  on  record,  and  was 
used  to  discharge  stones, 
plummets,  and  arrows. 
We  find  cross-bows  among 
the  Fans  of  the  Gaboons 
in  Western  Africa;  the 
Mishni,  a  tribe  of  Assam 
in  Eastern  India;  the  iSTicobar  Islanders^^* ;  the  Chinese  and  the  Japan- 
ese'-'^ 

The  cross-bow  of  the  Fans  is  5  feet  long  and  has  a  very  strong  bow  2 
feet  long,  which  is  bent  by  holding  it  with  the  feet  while  both  hands 
strain  the  string  into  the  notch.  The  string  is  thrust  oat  of  the  notch 
by  a  clumsily  ingenious  arrangement.  The  shaft  is  split  so  that  the  for- 
ward end  of  the  lower  portion  has  a  limited  motion  up  and  down,  the 
split  terminating  at  a  point  a  little  forward  of  the  string-notch.  To  the 
lower  portion  is  attached  a  peg  which  extends  upward  through  a  hole 
to  thrust  the  string  out  of  the  notch.  A  trigger-pin  lies  in  the  split  of 
the  shaft  and  holds  the  portions  apart  so  that  the  string  can  lie  in  the 


Fig.  147. — Norwegian  crossbow. 


2«Wooc1,  vol.  ii,  p.  220. 


2«Siebolcl's  "Nippou,"  vol.  ii,  PI.  5  bis. 


SAVAGE    WEAPONS    AT    THE    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION.        207 

notch  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  trij:gcr-pin  is  removod  tlic  soparatod  ])()rtioiis 
fly  togC'tlier,  the  pin  rises,  hits  the  string,  and  the  arrow  is  diseliarged. 
The  Chinese  have  a  somewhat  siinihir  method.  The  arrows  of  the  Fan 
cross-how  are  small  and  light,  and  about  a  f(jot  in  length.  Their  range 
is  about  20  yards,  and  they  owe  their  elheiency  to  their  poisoned  tips. 
When  laid  in  the  groove  of  the  shaft  to  be  discharged,  the  arrow  is 
slightly  held  by  a  piece  of  wax.  A  larger  arrow  with  an  iron  head  is 
used  in  hunting. 

The  Japanese  have  also  a  cross-bow.  The  repeating  Chinese  cross-bow 
is  i)erhai)s  the  greatest  advance  in  this  implement,  which  has  been  so  en- 
tirely superseded  in  Europe.  The  magazine  is  above  a  movable  block 
which  has  a  slot  in  which  the  string  moves,  and  the  whole  block  is  mov- 
able back  and  forth  in  the  main  stock  by  a  lever  attached  to  the  latter 
and  shackled  to  the  block.  As  the  lever  is  raised  the  block  slides  for- 
ward until  the  string  of  the  unbent  bow  drops  into  a  notch.  This  al- 
lows an  arrow  to  fall  out  of  the  magazine  into  the  slot.  Kow  draw  back 
the  lever;  this  action  draws  upon  the  bow-string  and  bends  the  bow  in 
the  first  place,  and  when  the  lever  is  depressed  to  its  fullest  extent  a 
l)iu  in  the  block  comes  against  the  stock  and  is  pushed  up  so  as  to  lift 
the  string  out  of  the  notch  and  discharge  the  arrow.  The  limit  of  speed 
in  firing  is  the  quickness  with  which  the  lever  is  liftCvl  and  depressed. 
The  bow  is  made  of  three  thicknesses  of  the  male  l)and)oo,  overlapping 
like  the  plates  of  an  elliptic  carriage  spring.  The  string  is  a  thick 
twisted  gut.  The  arrows  are  straight,  both  with  heavy  steel  heads  and 
very  slight  spiral  leathers.    Its  utmost  range  is  possibly  200  yards. 


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